Hidizs MS3 Review - Serious Contender Spotted!

 

General/Build/Comfort/Packaging

Hidizs is a brand that most audiophiles are familiar with, they are mostly well known for their source rather than IEMs, but they’re looking to change the perspective and they’re coming up hot with their recent releases. The MS5 which features a 1DD+4 Sonion BAs and the little brother which I have with me today, the MS3 which features 1DD+2 Knowles BA.

Build quality is solid, which retains most of the bigger brother’s design with the exception of a different faceplate. The packaging is very premium looking as well, along with the bundled accessories, this time around, instead of a hard storage case, a faux leather like storage pouch is provided instead, which is totally understandable in order to bring down the cost. This time around, there’s an option for either single ended termination or 4.4 balanced, a great move by Hidizs. Kudos! The cable is 4 strands OFC mixed braided, it is not stiff nor thick, just nice in terms of weight and practical.

Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp

• Earmen ST-Amp

• Earmen Colibri

• Sony WM1A

• Hidizs MS3 stock cable and eartips (Bass Tip)

Foreword

My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression (Balanced Filter)

MS3 has a slight cool tonality and energetic treble, bass is quite punchy and sub bass rumbles when the track calls for it. Timbre sounds natural most of the time, but certain instruments do have slight BA timbre to it, not really a cons to me. One thing to note is that MS3 is fairly sensitive, depending on source, it may or may not hiss, paired with WM1A, it doesn’t hiss, whereas with higher powered source such as Angel, Colibri, and ST-Amp, it hisses, unless if you are using iFi’s IEMatch, then there won’t be any hisses at all, also, due to the MS3 being fairly sensitive, things can get loud pretty fast

Let’s take a look at the breakdown below:

Bass

• Bass has very good texture and punches hard when the track calls for it (Metallica's Lux Aeterna)

• Sub bass does rumble but slightly lacking in terms of extension, sufficient quantity and quality to enjoy EDM to my ears

• Good speed and control for the bass

• It doesn’t bleed into the mids

Mids

• The mids are not recessed nor overly forward, it’s just right and musical

• Lush sounding with good details across this range

• Male vocal in general sounds alright, doesn’t sound thin but slightly lacking in terms of texture, female vocal however sounds very rich and pleasant, possibly due to the slight emphasis on the upper midrange, but never came across as shouty to my ears

• As i mentioned earlier, due to the slight emphasis on the upper midrange/pinna gain, those who are sensitive to this region might find it shouty, so YMMV

Treble

• The trebles are slightly boosted even on the balanced filter, but it doesn’t sound harsh or sibilant in anyway, i find it to be nicely done and blend in very well across the frequency range

• There are a good amount of air that are present in this range which also contributes to a good soundstage

• Detail retrieval is very good for the asking price, micro details are nicely presented without causing any fatigue

• In comparison to its bigger brother the MS5, the treble region is slightly tamer compared to the MS5, which can be a little “spicy” at times depending on tracks

Soundstage/Imaging

• The soundstage is nicely done in my opinion especially for this price point, it is wide, a little out of your head and good enough height, a little lacking in terms of depth, but that’s acceptable given the asking price and the overall technicalities that MS3 offers

• Instruments can be pinpointed easily on where it’s coming from, HRTF is relatively good based on my listening experience

Sound Impression on other nozzle

Bass Nozzle

• Bass nozzle, as the name suggested, boost the bass by quite a bit, also add some warmth to the overall presentation

• The upper mid is slightly tamer compared to the balanced nozzle, a safer approach

• Mids are slightly recessed as well

• Treble is slightly darker on this nozzle

Treble Nozzle

• The trebles are elevated even more compared to the balanced nozzle, very energetic and crisp treble, treble head will like this presentation

• Mids are also a little bit more forward, a slight gain on the upper mids, female vocals are very energetic, and depending on the vocal range, some artist might come off as shouty

• Slight sibilant on certain track

Driveability

• MS3 is very easy to drive, Apple’s Lightning Dongle is sufficient to maximise its potential to my ears (using ddHifi’s 4.4F to 3.5M adapter)

• It doesn’t benefit much from amping, i do find the MS3 sounds a little harsh when fed with too much power

• It pairs fairly well with Hidizs’s in house source such as the XO and AP80 Pro-X

• Personally, i find the MS3 to have good synergy with warmer source such as Sony’s WM1A, it does add a little bit of body/texture to the overall presentation

Comparison (SeeAudio Yume II)

• Yume II has slightly thinner note weight

• Bass is fast on the Yume II, but slightly lacking texture compared to MS3

• Bass quantity is lesser on the Yume II

• Treble is slightly smoother on the Yume II

• MS3 has more air compared to Yume II, hence contributing to a slightly wider soundstage

• Yume II has better imaging compared to MS3

• Build quality wise, packaging, comfort wise, both are good and nothing much to nitpick

Final Thoughts

All in all, having tested several IEMs from Hidizs, it's clear to me that they definitely take the feedback seriously, it can be seen from MS3, which I believe the engineers did take some of the feedback from MS5 and work their magic on MS3. The tuning filter works and the differences are perceivable, not a gimmick at all. Out of the box, it is a technical beast and it does sound better against the competition which shares similar driver configuration and is priced higher. I think this time they got it right and i definitely look forward to see more new offerings from Hidizs in the near future

*A big thanks to Hidizs for sending this over for the purpose of this review, I received no compensation for writing this review.

Head over to their official store if you are interested in getting a pair, at the time of writing, it is currently on sale at 113$ which is a STEAL in my opinion, the price will be back to 169$ after 17th July, that is quite a lot of savings if you ask me

Hidizs MS3 - Non affiliated