HIDIZS MS1 Rainbow Review (1) – Charming Luck

June 26, 2020 Durwood (Chicago, USA)

Intro

Lots of choices these days for single dynamic drive IEM’s how is one to choose? The HIDIZS MS1 Rainbow enters the ring and wants a chance and I think it should be given one. At $69 retail it is above the “budget” threshold of the magical $50 dividing line so it needs to prove it can compete with the likes of similar recent popular contenders such as the KBear Diamond and TinHifi T4 also found near this price range. The Hidizs MS1 Rainbow doesn’t have a fancy DLC or CNT driver, but boasts a bio-cellulose driver instead. Reminds me of fancy carbon fiber kelvar rein-enforced drivers vs. a tried and true paper cone driver in the speaker world. I think Hidizs has done a good job with the MS1 Rainbow and let me tell you why.

Standout Features-

Bass is elevated without bleed and has a nice mild V treble to match.
No sibilance detected
Cable is above average and pliable with my favorite style of earguides
Good fitment (varies by user)
Driven easily by smartphone, good sensitivity

Needs Improvement-

Inline mic barrel design makes it hard to locate buttons
5khz energy might be too much for some people leads to a little vocal scratchiness
Slightly above average resolution

4 C’s, Case, Cable, Contents, Comfort

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, they throw in a pouch to hold the earphones made of a rubberized vinyl material. It’s ok, a bit small to hold the earphone tips and the earphones themselves. I would probably use it to hold the extra tips but find a new case that would properly protect the earphones…OR you could just opt for the higher end packaging of the MS1 Mermaid. I am making an assumption that the Mermaid is the same tuning as the Rainbow, but with better packaging and in a metal shell.

Cable is twisted (not braided) but it is thicker than other stock cables – maybe twice as thick as the standard KZ/TRN affair we all know. It is pliable and does a good job of minimizing microphonics – I dig it. Could it be better -of course, but I am perfectly happy with this as the included cable especially since it has a inline remote. I know this is not the “audiophile” way however I personally prefer cables with inline controls. I like to advance my music without taking my LGV30 out of my pocket. The thin buttons on a round barrel design make it troubling however to actually operate in a timely manner. I wish they would have used a different design, rounded rectangle with bigger buttons. The earguides are not overbearing not too springy either.

Contents of the package are above average with both a narrow set and wide bore set of tips which I find acceptable. They are sticky and medium fits me well due to the long nozzle with a lip. They are short stemmed which is fine for these since the nozzle is long enough to stay in place. The narrow bore tips caused a bit of peakiness in the treble and the bass fullness suffered a bit so I used the wide bores for the purpose of this review.

Comfort-I would say the shell is on the medium yet bulbous size. It fits to my ear contours nicely for a universal fit that is devoid of sharp edges, and made of plastic resin. It is lightweight yet of similar quality of other budget friendly brands KZ, TRN, CCA. The nozzle stem points forward in a straight angle, as opposed to a downward (KZ ZS10pro/TRN V90) or upward tilt (BQEYZ Spring1).

Sound

I would label this as a balanced or mild V shaped tuning. Moderately elevated bass stopping short of true basshead levels with plenty of haptic rumble will satisfy those that like their bass without midbass bleed and leaning towards the sub-bass region. I believe the bass is excellent for my tastes but could use a little more articulation. Continuing into the midrange we find that it is balanced well with the amount of treble and bass to avoid a major recession. Male vocals tend to have a minor amount of scratchiness to them, but it is absent with female vocals. This is probably my only minor complaint. No offending major spikes into the upper midrange even though the graph shows one at 5khz, sibilance is only there if the recording has it. Treble extends perfectly to give it just the right amount of air to avoid sounding too sparkly, but not lacking in warmer sounding sets like the Nicehck M6. Cymbals sound great with a nice smooth shimmer. Very polite sounding, so if your preference is hard and aggressive these might not satisfy.

Technicalities

Sound-staging is above average prioritizing width over depth, and has good instrument placement and separation. Cohesion is there as expected for a single DD. Layering is nicely done and I find the timbre to be natural sounding. I have thrown many genres at the Hidizs MS1 and it exhibits them all superbly with electronic sounding well… a bit electronic. That tells me it renders everything as it should without imparting it’s own signature too much. There could be more resolution, but at this price level it is satisfying. The Simgot EN700 pro for example has a similar tuning but with a tad more resolution. It also costs 2-3x as much. The airiness present in the treble aides in adding spaciousness or atmosphere, to me other earphones lacking this will comes off as flat sounding. It handles complex music just fine without too much congestion, but something like the TRN V90 with its five drivers does appear to offer slightly better clarity. Sensitivity is also great and easily driven by a smartphone, while a nice headphone amplifier might give it more oomph it doesn’t improve anything that much.

HIDIZS MS1 Rainbow Review – Second Opinion

Loomis Johnson’s second opinion on the Hidizs MS1 Rainbow.

Closing

Instrument separation could use a bit more refinement, but still good. While it doesn’t seem to be boasting anything spectacular and looks like just another single DD earphone in a crowded market, it is the sum of all parts that came together to produce a great sounding earphone with some atmospheric qualities. I enjoy this earphone completely as is and while there is a bit of grain in the vocals and lacks some points on resolution, I could be very happy with this as my daily earphone. It checks off all my boxes without asking me to crack open my wallet too much. I prefer it over the KBear Diamond that is more aggressive in the lower treble. I was unable to compare to my Tinhifi T4 at this time since I loaned them to LoomisJohnson just before Covid lockdown, but these do have better fitment YMMV.

Specifications

10.2mm Dynamic Driver Unit with Double Magnetic Circuit and Dual Cavity Design.
Skin-Friendly Resin Housings with Aluminum Alloy Sound Tubes.
Impedance: 20 Ohms.
Frequency Response Range: 20Hz-40kHz.
Sensitivity: 112dB.
0.78mm Two-Pin Connector Type.
Calling and In-Line Music Control on Cable.
4 Core High-Purity Silver Coated High Purity OFC Cable.
Plug Type: 3.5mm.

MY VERDICT

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Disclaimer

I received these unsolicited from Hifigo. Tested at $69. Get them here.

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You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

Author

Durwood (Chicago, USA)
Head-Fier since 2007. From an early age Durwood liked to tear apart perfectly good working things to see what was inside, always an urge to understand what made it tick. His love of music started at the local roller rink and as a result grew up with pop, electronic music (think Freestyle, Trinere), and early hiphop from the 80’s. Hit the grunge era and Chicago house in his teens when B96 had their street mixes with Bad Boy Bill, Bobby D, Julian Jumpin Perez. Became a DJ at the local now defunct roller rink because why not? A sucker for catchy TV/movie themes (Thank you John Williams). Car audio was his first audio passion, but now with a family his audio time is spent listening to headphones. The nickname is not self-proclaimed, bestowed to him multiple times and fits his experiences in life. Collector of technology and music- a maximizer trying real hard to be a satisficer. Simplicity is the goal, but the maximizer fights every step of the way.
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