TIN HIFI C3 REVIEW

>>I am brazilian and I speak portuguese, so forgive my english, I’ll use translator tools to help.<<

INTRO:

We’re back with another TIN HIFI release, today I’m going to review the TIN C3. I think it’s no more necessary to introduce Tin HiFi after so many reviews I’ve made of them. In this review I’ll be always citing the C2 as a comparison, because the company launched both IEMs at the same time, and cause hasn’t been long since I reviewed the C2 (still fresh in my memory).

TIN HIFI reviews (in portuguese): Tin T2 EVO, Tin T2+, Tin T3+, Tin P1, Tin T1S, Tin P1 Max

In english: Tin C2 Mech Warrior

Price: $49 USD
Colors: Black
Cabe: No Mic

TIN HIFI STORE:

https://www.tinhifi.com/

https://www.tinhifi.com/products/tinhifi-c3

https://tinhifi.aliexpress.com/store/912323289

https://aliexpress.com/item/1005004996432145.html

SPECIFICATIONS:

(1) 10mm Dynamic Driver (DD) (PU + LCP)
Frequency range: 10Hz – 20kHz
Sensitivity: 106dB±3dB
Impedance: 32Ω土15%
Max power: 5mW
Termination Plug: 3.5mm (straight)
Cable size: 125cm (detachable)
Cable material: Copper silver-plated
Connectors: 2Pin 0.78mm
Shell: Resin
Weight: 4.39g (one side)

PHYSICAL ASPECTS:

Eartips. Starting with the C3 eartips, and here is the weakest part of the product, but from then on it just grows and gets better. 6 silicone eartips came, two pairs of each size (S/M/L). The eartips are simple, identical to those of Tin C2. You can’t demand much from more affordable IEMs, but in my opinion, the company should have included at least two types of eartips, including the white eartips that the company always put on their IEMs. The only difference between the C2 and the C3 was that here on the C3 I didn’t have the same issues that I had on the C2 (see the treble part of the C2 review where I explain better what happened). So, here with the C3 I was lucky to be able to find the ideal sound with the stock eartips. I don’t see the need to upgrade the eartips for the C3 – this is something very personal – but for me the C3 is ready to use with what it comes available.

-The evaluation was made with the stock eartips in size M.

Cable. As I said before, the product is getting better with each topic. The cable included in the C3 was an excellent choice, both aesthetically and in practical terms. As example of how good the cable of this IEM is, I have the Origin cable from Effect Audio that cost $49 usd, that is, basically the price of the C3, and I think the C3 cable is better than the EA Origin. It’s a very strong point of the product. I think it is an upgrade compared to the C2 cable too – but this is also something subjective. It’s lightweight, doesn’t tangle easily, doesn’t get ‘memory’ on its extension, has no microphonics, and is easy to roll up for storage. The cable comes with the chin slider, and here I would say that the piece works but I don’t give 100% of effectiveness, since isn’t the type that stays hard in place, there is a certain risk that at one time or another the piece will slip.

Earhooks. Here honestly I would say that the C2 earhooks have the style that I prefer, but that doesn’t make the C3 earhooks bad, on the contrary, they are good, the curvature is ideal – for me – it fits right in my ears. The only caveat I make is always the question of these wavys that follow the braiding of the cable, because in some situations it can cause discomfort, however, that is not what happened here, the comfort was very good.

Connectors. The C3 has 2pin 0.78mm type connectors. The interesting thing here is that they have a lower profile, smaller than the body of the connectors out there, something I always thought it was interesting that the IEMs had. The connectors are indicated by the letter “L” and “R” (left and right) to make the connection on the correct side, as well as the body of the headphones also have the indication by the respective letters. It’s also possible to rely on the red color of the connector on the right side (R).

Fit. Another great point of the C3. The IEM fit me like a glove, it’s basically the same body as the T3+, if not the same (I don’t have any more to compare). The stability was excellent, the earphone stays well accommodated in my ears, completely filled, and yet it doesn’t create an internal pressure. I always say that I have a preference for IEMs with horizontal fit – as was the case with the C2 – however, even though the C3 is vertical, I didn’t feel any detriment because of that, the fit was just as good. On me, the C3 was very discreet, without protruding parts coming out of the ear. I think of the C3 as a good alternative for use as a stage monitor (but that’s just speculation, as I’m not a professional musician and don’t use earphones for that purpose). The insertion I found average, and the isolation I found good (isolates more than the C2).

Comfort. The comfort was something very controversial on the C2 cause some people got issues, but if you saw my review of the C2, you know this point was fine for me. Now the C3… Unquestionably super comfortable IEM! It’s among the most comfortable IEMs I’ve ever tested. The earphone is very lightweight, did’nt create any pressure points in my ears, its shell (body) is very anatomical, well rounded, the resin is very good, the feeling of contact with the skin is very smooth. In resume, it’s an ideal IEM for long listening. The comfort reaches the point where it feels like I’m not wearing earphones (but of course there are earphones that have even more of that feeling, as well as bullet style IEMs). This is always a subjective question, but if you have already tested the T3+, I would say that you will have an almost identical experience here.

The product doesn’t come with any carrying case, and that’s kind of one of the few criticisms I can make on that part of the physical aspects. If I thought that the C2 costing less should have come with a carrying case, here in the C3 won’t be different.

SOUND ASPECTS:

I consider the sound of the TIN HIFI C3 to be a variation of the Harman Target (harman group compensation curve). In short, we have an elevation on the bass, balanced mids, and more restrained treble. The Tin C3 has a very relaxed and pleasant sound to listen to, I would say that the ideal word to describe this IEM as a whole would be: Comfort. In the physical aspects we saw that it’s a very good in terms of comfort, and here in terms of sound the IEM follow the same premise. The C3 has a more warm characteristic, and it reminds me in part the TRI Meteor, IEM that I considered to have a dark profile, however, I think the C3 – in my opinion – doesn’t enter in the gallery of dark IEMs.

I believe that many people will want to know if the C3 is an upgrade of the C2 Mech Warrior… So, the C2 is no longer in my hands, and as such, a side-by-side comparison won’t be possible, but I will try during the evaluation bring some points that may be interesting to make a distinction between one and the other (albeit from memory). I already advance that the C3 in the fiscal aspects is indeed an upgrade of the C2 – even if this is something subjective. Now, in terms of sound, I understand that it’s just a sidegrade, that is, as good as it is, but one will have a different tuning than the other. If you read my review of the C2, you’ll see that I had a sibilance issue using the stock eartips that came with… This is also why I didn’t enjoy listening to genres like Metal and EDM with the C2. However, the problem was solved using the SpinFit CP100, and the interesting thing is that the C2 with the CP100 got something close to the sound of the C3 (for me).

The bass of the C3 in quantitative terms. To start by saying that the measure here goes beyond moderate, it already has a very nice presence and that I liked in terms of quantity. Here is where the C3 has a small difference compared to the C2, the bass of the C3 is a little higher than the C2. For me, the quantity is neither lacking nor excessive, that is, the sound is not boring when the genres need bass, but it also doesn’t make the presentation exaggerated due to an excess of bass. Incredibly, if a basshead asked me if I would recommend this IEM to him, I’d say no, but I believe he wouldn’t be disappointed either when listening to the C3. For me, the sub-bass and mid-bass are very linear, I didn’t notice too much emphasis between one region and another. I didn’t feel any roll-off in the subs region. The extension is good.

In qualitative terms, the C3’s bass is authoritative, controlled, has weight, has body, has texture, has a good impact, has a little physicality (but nothing that makes the ear shake). It’s not boomy, bloated, or muddy bass, and it doesn’t invade the mids either. Definition is good, speed is also good/Ok. I think they are very complete bass, there is nothing to criticize (mainly for the price of the product), maybe if it were an exclusive driver just for the bass maybe it could gain more in quality. The C2’s bass is cleaner and dry than the C3’s (in my opinion), the C3’s bass has a little more “meat”. For me, these C3 basses combine with a wide range of musical genres like Hip-Hop, POP, Rock, EDM, and others.

The midrange on the C3. This is where I think the C2 and C3 are most similar, pretty much everything is repeated from the first to the second IEM, the only difference I can notice is that the midrange of the C3 got a little warmer than that of C2. So that’s it, Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V on the C2 mids… Well balanced frequency range, neither sounding recessed nor too forward. There remains good definition and clarity here as well. These C3 mids are already kind of the formula for success, they just don’t really appeal to the person who prefers a more forwardness mids (upper mids), something like found in the NF NA3 or BGVP Melody, for example.

The voices. Here things are reversed from C2 to C3. If on the C2 I thought it matched a little more with female/high voices, here on the C3 I thought it was the opposite, the IEM fits better with voices with lower timbres. In reality, this “matched a little more” is something subtle, when a earphone is bright it tends to combine more with soprano or mezzo-soprano voices, and when the earphone is warmer it tends to combine more with lower and baritone voices (which was the case here at C3). The C3 manages to take more advantage of the hoarse and guttural voices, giving more texture to the sound (in my opinion). A good example that I always use to find out if the IEM go well with a deeper voice is on the playlist of the website, in “Ed Motta”, if the voice is “full-bodied”, it is already a sign that it will be fine.

The treble of the C3 in quantitative terms. Here is the most discreet region in the C3 and the most different compared to C2. If there in C2 was the region that could “break” the balance, here in C3 it’s the region that is missing to reach the balance (this can be somewhat subjective). I thought the amount was moderate to low. The presence is OK, they are standard treble, and in my opinion it could have a small addition for the earphone reach the maximum (for me). For some people I imagine it’s going to be exactly what they’re looking for… and who are these people? Those who are very sensitive to treble. Here at C3 it’s zero fatigue, no chance of getting tired. As I said at the beginning of the sound aspects, it’s the comfort IEM. This earphone is highly recommended for spending long hours listening to music without feeling disturbed by the sound (the challenge is up!).

In qualitative terms, the treble of the C3 are smooth, sweet, gentle, without coloring, they are treble that I could say are “neutral”, that is, coherent. They are not shrill, sharp, or harsh, and they don’t sibilance in any time. I didn’t feel roll-off or few extension, for me these aspects were Ok, what I really missed was a little more sparkle, airy, and micro detail… Not that what’s here is something bad, but yes it will come a matter of taste, and for my taste it could have a little more. The C2 in these areas already has a little more presence, which in turn will generate a greater perception of these characteristics. Hi-hats on C3 don’t sound harsh, chime doesn’t print coloring, drum cymbals don’t generate aggressiveness.

Soundstage. The soundstage feeling I thought was good. The sound presents itself relatively wide, bringing a bit of spatiality to the songs. Good depth, good height, and good width. Certainly the difference in tuning, and possibly difference in shell construction, made the C3 have a better soundstage feel than the C2 (in my opinion).

Imaging. The instrumental separation I found Ok/average. Certainly, the stereo image is good and it’s possible to hear the instruments playing with definition, however, there’s not a very precise cut in the positioning of each one, the feeling really is that one sound is “on top” of the other (remembering that this can vary also according to recording and other processes during music production).

Driver Flex test. The C3 is a single DD IEM, and when it’s like that, we need to check if it has a flex driver sound. So, I can say that the C3 showed no signs of flex driver noise.

Amplification. I used the Questyle M15 DAC/AMP dongle connected to my notebook to do this evaluation. The output used was the 3.5mm SE and the device with the selector in “Low” mode, that is, without gain. I can say that the Tin C3 is a super easy IEM to be played from any source, smartphones, notebooks, iPads, etc. Does not require dedicated amplification. I did the evaluation between the 35% and 40% volumes of the 100% available by Windows volume scale.

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Music is subjective, so below is the list of some musical genres that I personally think that was better with this IEM. Remember that were only few genres and few artists tested. If I describe that one genre was better and the other don’t, it doesn’t mean that you can’t listen to your favorite music genre with this IEM and love it. So, here goes:

PLAYLIST LINK:

Graphs by IAN FANN:

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