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Monday, July 8, 2013

T-PEOS H-200

Disclaimer: As always, I can't possibly thank enough Flysweep, for providing me with this opportunity. I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to you, my friend. And of course, Inks takes credit for arranging the loan.


After the commercial success of H-100, T-PEOS takes another spin on their BA-Dynamic hybrid technology. Now featuring a dual balanced-armature driver as a tweeter, H-200 is claimed to be the next-generation hybrid IEM.



Surprisingly, unlike its predecessor, H-100, H-200 does not come with a performance certification chart provided by Goldenears.net. It is a well-known fact that the partnership between T-PEOS and Goldenears has been put to halt simply because the performance of the IEM can't be guaranteed; the manufacturer have been constantly changing the sound tuning of H-100, even after the IEM is certified.





PRO: The quality of bass is quite nice. Interestingly, the inherent suck-out at 6.5 kHz, which is caused by the crossover network design error, is somehow nullified with a time-delay.

CON: Inverted polarity, short bandwidth, and the harsh peak at 10 kHz. Unlike the predecessor, the acoustic vent on the housing is nowhere to be seen.

ON SECOND THOUGHT #1: H-200 is designed for shallow insertion: The deep-null at 6.5 kHz is tamed as the insertion depth becomes shallower. Deep insertion is not recommended at all.

ON SECOND THOUGHT #2: High source impedance shouldn't be much of a problem with H-200.

ON SECOND THOUGHT #3: The IEM is definitely benefited from additional acoustic damping applied at the output. A foam plug will greatly tame the harshness in the treble, while leaving the high frequency extension intact.

ON SECOND THOUGHT #4: Other than the translucent stock sleeves, H-200 also comes with three pairs of short black sleeves and foam sleeves, which share similar resonance characteristics. These sleeves help even out the harshness in the treble very nicely. In conjunction with other problem-solving tricks presented in this article, the tonality of the IEM will be further balanced.

ON SECOND THOUGHT #5: By combining all the solutions, the peak and the deep-null can be greatly minimized.

ON SECOND THOUGHT #6: Whether modified or not, T-PEOS H-200's frequency response is far from that of the Olive-Welti compensation target, which is a rough reference for headphonic high-fidelity.

12 comments:

  1. Hello RIn, how do these compare with other hybrid IEMs such as the Sennheiser IE800 or AKG K3003?

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    1. Hi, bballxpert. IMHO, H-200 sounds too bland to me. K3003 wins hands down, especially in terms of versatility in tonal modification. And Sennheiser IE800 is dynamic, not a hybrid.

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  2. Oh! My bad, I forgot that the IE800 was just a dynamic. But nevertheless, it seems that the H200 is not up to snuff with the highest end universals, but how does it compare with IEMs a tier below such as the Westone 4 or Ultimate Ears UE900?

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    Replies
    1. No problem! The SQ of H-200 is not too bad: I would've ranked H-200 along with the IEMs of a high profile, if bass wasn't too emphasized. H-100 is definitely something though. Once modified, it can easily blow Sony XBA to dust.

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  3. I completely disagree. The H-200 is an excellent headphone for basshead audiophiles and can definitely play up there with the big boys. It has amazing clarity and a deep bass that an audiophile will be able to appreciate. I have to admit that it can be a bit sibilant at times limiting extention but the overall quality of the IEM concerning build quality and soundstage puts it way up there.

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    Replies
    1. Yup, we can agree to disagree. No hard feelings haha

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  4. Hi Rin, have you tried the Accudio H200 profile? I wanna know if it can fix the dip and peak in the H200's frequency response.

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    Replies
    1. Never tried Accudio on H200.. Once I have a time, I'll try to simulate the result, since I already have all the required data.

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    2. That's awesome Rin! In your personal experience, is Accudio better in terms of sound quality compared to the stock music player on IOS? I've read a couple people post on head-fi that it degrades the sound a bit.

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    3. Hmm, IME Accudio slightly increased the noise floor, but barely noticable. Maybe they fixed it in the newer version, but I am not sure of it.

      Accudio's parametric EQ really kicks ass, but the other features.. they are only for fun IMHO.

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  5. Hi Rin, can you please help me understand how time delay can nullify a "dip" in frequency response?
    "Interestingly, the inherent suck-out at 6.5 kHz, which is caused by the crossover network design error, is somehow nullified with a time-delay."

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  6. Hello Rin, Will you have a review at the T Peos Altone?

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