ddHifi Janus 3 Review - Playing it Safe

 

General/Packaging/Build/Comfort

I have tested various ddHifi products, most of the time is the dongle, cables and adapters, i have heard of the brand’s IEM Janus back then but there isn’t any opportunity to test it out, fast forward to today, i have the Janus 3 with me, as expected from the brand itself, the build quality is solid, a half see through shell with mmcx connection, some seems to have a love hate relationship with mmcx, i personally am okay with either 2 pin or mmcx, but if i were to pick one, because i cable roll quite often mmcx will be a better choice although it does spin like a “helicopter” after some time, but it will not be unplugged from the IEM itself like 2 pin connection when it is loose.

As with other ddHifi products, the packaging is solid and the unboxing experience is very positive, this time around, they have decided to use “waifu” on their packaging. The bundled accessories are very good in my opinion, a hard storage case, three sizes of the ST35 eartips, a very solid modular cable (3.5,4.4,2.5), the cable itself is very soft and does not tangle up, very minor to no microphonics. 

In terms of comfort, i have no fit issue with it and they literally just disappears in your ears when you are wearing them, the cable itself is very very soft as i have mentioned and it does not seem to be pulling down/weighing down the IEM which is very good, you can either wear it straight down or over the ear if you prefer.

Gears used for this review

• ddHifi TC35 Pro Eye 2

• Hiby R6 Pro 2020

• Earmen Tradutto -> Earmen CH-Amp

• ddHifi Janus 3 stock cable and JVC Spiral Dots

Sound

I would describe the Janus 3 as having a harman derived tuning as when I unbox it, it does mention that the Janus 3 is co-tuned with Moondrop. Depending on whether you like harman derived tuning or not, it can be enjoyable/bad depending on preference. I personally am enjoying Janus 3, tonality is not too cool/nor warm sounding, timbre sounds quite natural to my ears, after all, Janus 3 is a single DD IEM.

Bass: 

• Sub bass has got good rumble and extension,but to my ears,it is nowhere near basshead level

• Mid bass has got good thump and punch,it does occasionally bleeds into the mids as it is not fast enough during complex track

• The bass’s texture is quite decent for the asking price

Mids:

• The mid is slightly recessed

• Vocal positioning is slightly laid back and definitely not intimate

• Male vocal has got good texture and doesn’t sound thin at all

• Female vocal sounds thicker than male,Adele and Kate Bush sounds fantastic on this due to the slight upper mids boost

• Using the Janus 3 with Spiral Dots eartips, the mids are slightly pushed forward and the mids sounds a little fuller overall

Highs:

• The treble is energetic but never sibilant or harsh, i wouldn’t say its smooth as that would mean the Janus 3 is warm sounding

• With the Spiral Dots eartips, the treble is smooth, for those who are sensitive to treble, perhaps can try it with this eartip

• It has good extension and detail retrieval is average,some details are hard to pick up but this is purely nitpicking especially at this price point

Soundstage/Imaging

• Choices of eartip will affects the perceived soundstage fyi, using the stock ST35 eartip, the soundstage is quite in your head, just slightly out of your head in terms of width, i am using it with the JVC Spiral Dots and it does open up the soundstage a little, better depth, width and height perception

• Imaging is good enough for the price,instruments can be picked up easily,but it does struggle a little when playing back complex track such as Slipknot’s Duality

Driveability

• Very easy to drive,decent volume out of smartphone’s 3.5mm jack

• Doesn’t benefit much from amping

• Does scale with better source in terms of soundstage reproduction, bass and treble control

• Dongles such as the TC35 Pro Eye 2 has more than enough power to drive the Janus 3, so, if you have any other dongle which is around the price point, you’ll be fine

Final Thoughts

Having tested and listened to Janus 3 for several weeks, do I think they’re competitive or relevant at the asking price? It depends on how you’re looking at it, my opinion is that, Janus 3 is not a set that’s focused on technicalities, for those who are looking to listen critically, Janus 3 is not for you, however, if you are someone who just want to listen to your music and not care about the technicalities, Janus 3 is something that you can consider, am i saying the Janus 3 is bad? Not at all, sure, it does not have top tier technicalities, but once you start listening to it, i’m sure you’ll be tapping your foot along with the rhythm, after all, this is what matters the most when we’re listening to music isn’t it? 

Janus 3 is sent over by ddHifi for the purpose of this review. I thank them for the opportunity as always.

Head over to their store if you’re interested in getting a pair:

ddHifi Janus 3- Non affiliated