DZAT DR-25 Review – Shrill Bill
Pros — Packaging, spatial cues.
Cons — Tonal accuracy and balance off.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The DZAT DR-25 single dynamic-driver (DD) earphones have an odd take on the old-school V-shaped sound as it booms on one end and screams on the other.
INTRODUCTION
The DZAT DF-10 were my first Chifi earphones back in late 2016. Their shells are made out of wood and they came with a notepad and pen…and they sound good, rivalling the Sennheiser Momentum in-ear at 6 times the price. My apologies to Wooeasy Earphones Store for soliciting them to review this new model.
A word on Wooeasy: that 2016 shipment of the DZAT DF-10 was faulty…although factory sealed, the box did not include the large eartips needed for my large ear canals. And since I had no collection of tips at the time, Wooeasy sent me a pair free of charge. My business dealings with Wooeasy have always been good (I purchased tens of items from them) and they once replaced a cable I had ripped apart. A great, caring seller in my experience. Wooeasy and their brands such as Yinyoo have been banned on Head-Fi for a few years now for allegedly manipulating a few reviews. At the same time, there is a bunch of shills out there in the pockets of a competitor, who produce uncritical and therefore meaningless, promotional review fakes, and these assembly line…which is tolerated. What hypocrisy! This writeup is a good example that Wooeasy/Yinyoo reviews are not manipulated (these days)…in fact, Wooeasy have always been 100% correct to me and never interfered or asked for any favour. And they have taken a hit as I coincidentally reviewed a few not so great iems supplied by them. Please be aware that (partial) fake reviews and bans distort the market as they manipulate you, the consumer (there is a big grey zone between the two end members of critical review and fake review…some of the “honest” reviews may fit in there).
SPECIFICATIONS
Model Number: DR-25
Transducer: 8 mm dynamic driver
Impedance: 18 ohm
Sensitivity: 102 dB
Frequency Response: 10Hz-40 kHz
Length: 120 cm
Tested at: $18.65
Product Link: Wooeasy Earphones Store
PHYSICAL THINGS
In the box are the earphones, 3 sets of tips (S, M, L), manual and warranty, and a storage sack. The packaging is exquisite, it comes in a very fancy box, similar to the Moondrop Kanas Pro. Therefore, if you really like unboxing (I personally don’t), this earphone is recommended to you for that reason alone — and for absolutely nothing else. The earpieces are made of soft plastic similar to the low-end Philips models — they are a far cry from the beautiful wooden DZAT DF-10. The cable is rubbery and springy with microphonics but that’s fairly standard in this category and not a big deal. So far, nothing special. The DZAT DR-25 are easily driven by my iPhone SE and the largest included tips worked fine for me. Isolation is the usual for piston-shaped iems, it depends strongly on the tips used. Same is comfortable and fit, which were just fine for me.
TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES
JK’s tonal preference and testing practice
To give it away, this earphone bites tonally. It offers a V-shaped sound with strongly recessed lower mids AND elevated upper mids, resulting in a thin but overenergetic vocals department, male and female. Voicse are thin and lack body, while being aggressive, which throws the image off balance. Bass is boomy and not well textured, it is simply too much. Rhythm guitars are ok sounding…at least something positive. Lower treble is sparse and an upper treble peak causes plasticky cymbals. In the end you don’t know what is more fatiguing, the boomy lower end or the shrill upper end.
Believe it or not, the spatial cues is good, and so is the soundstage (in width not depth), but this has become as irrelevant at this point as the semi-orgasmic unpacking sensation. Maybe we go back to unboxing now to save the day. I have heard $5 earphones that were better balanced and wonder what DZAT had thought when throwing this earphone on the market.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In the end, the DZAT DR-25 are ok earphones for chainsaw operators but outright cruel for the rest of us considering the great DZAT DF-10. But if you are an unboxing aficionado who rather lives for the moment: the DR-25 are lavishly packaged and may delight in this respect. To make things worse, the better DZAT DF-10 have been discontinued. All this is living proof that new brooms don’t necessarily clean better.
DISCLAIMER
My apologies once again to Wooeasy Earphones Store, who provided this unit for my review upon my request. About our measurements.
