MAKINAaudio T-100B Review: The Easy Carry Analyzer
MAKINAaudio is about as new as it gets. Here at About Audio, we’ve been introducing various new brands from all around the world, and while today’s earphone is one of those new ones around the block, they aren’t exactly “new”. Only coming into existence at the end of 2025 from South Korea, MAKINAaudio released its debut IEM – the T-100B. MAKINAaudio T-100B is a budget-friendly audiophile IEM priced at $139, designed for multi-point usage and entertainment, featuring lightweight shells and a precision-tuned 1BA driver. Let’s see what the T-100B has to offer, how it sounds/performs, and lastly compare it with other popular IEMs within the similar price range.
About MAKINAaudio
What’s more interesting than the newness itself is who’s behind the tuning. MAKINAaudio was founded in collaboration with Hidition, Korea’s first custom IEM manufacturer, as well as the name responsible for the NT series earphones, which are still being brought up and used as relevant full-BA flagship IEMs ever since 2011. MAKINAaudio and its creation roots back to Hidition Gaming, a short-lived sub-brand of Hidition. Hidition Gaming released a project earphone called the T-100, and now, after 2 years of R&D, the successor of that IEM came back with a new name and a new brand.
Simple Utilitarian Packaging
You’ll notice, as you see more photos and descriptions about the T-100B, that these IEMs are made for convenience and daily carry. The IEMs are shipped ready to use out of the box – a very simple, compact box. Other than the earphones, T-100B comes with a stock cable with 3.5mm and 4.4mm modular plugs, four pairs of eartips, a leather carrying case, and a warranty card. For a first product from a brand nobody’s heard of yet, it’s a reasonable way to spend the packaging budget: put the money into the parts that actually touch your ears. Practical it is.
“Newtro” Concept Earpieces with 1BA Precision
The T-100B’s design concept digs into the newtro design trend. The earpieces are made of transparent injection-molded plastic and don’t exhibit any brand logo or text. Instead, the T-100B displays the delicate internal acoustic structure. It’s a similar feel to one of those old Nintendo controllers or Game Boy consoles with transparent casings. A single custom-designed full-range BA driver is paired with a small electronic network (a capacitor and resistor mounted on a small PCB) that handles frequency shaping, along with a tuning filter tucked inside the nozzle. While designed for over-ear usage, it could still be used straight down as the cable doesn’t have an earguide pre-shaped.
The stock cable is made of 4-core 6N OCC silver-plated wires. The wire materials are extremely light and soft, and don’t cause any microphonics. It has a seamless modular plug system where you can switch between 3.5mm and 4.4mm – though I’d wish to see a Type-C plug being available by default.
Sound Impressions: Bass
Let’s start with the bass. This is probably what most would worry about the most, as a single BA setup inherently carries a light bass response. However, if its driver spec is deterring you from considering T-100B, I’d suggest thinking again, because the T-100B is one of the best single BA IEMs I’ve heard.
Single BAs are difficult to tune – compared to single DDs or multi-driver setups, 1BA IEMs don’t have crossovers to divide the frequencies with, and have limited resources to start with. Boosting the bass on 1BAs will give you more sub-bass and body, yet you’ll lose transparency and agility – and if desiring the opposite, you’ll gain speed and tightness, yet you’ll then lose sub-bass quantity and body. MAKINAaudio T-100B not only nails perfect balance between these aspects, but it also stretches the 1BA potentials to the max. Bass is tight, agile, and pleasant, with technicality that reveals the texture details.
The sub-bass has adequate roll-off for body while keeping the bass core tight and rock solid as you’d expect from a BA bass. Of course, the bass body is moderate in thickness (or neutral thick), hence it still won’t satisfy bassheads. However, you wouldn’t be looking into 1BAs in the first place if you were a basshead! If you’re fine with moderate to all-rounder bass quantity, the bass performance wouldn’t disappoint you. It certainly doesn’t (or cannot) overpower the bass, though thorough thumps and kicks are bold enough for me to jam to the bass drop. Ultra-low extension is very nice, diving deep with clarity and impressive resolution.
Sound Impressions: Mids / Highs / etc.
The midrange is where the T-100B actually earns its keep, and it’s not close. Vocals have a flat, evenly presented midrange with pleasant airiness and shine across the range. Upper mids given a gentle lift in crispness and bite, though not advancing into sibilance. T-100B boosts the upper mids just enough to give extra air and openness towards the trebles without causing sharpness or shoutiness. Because the bass doesn’t crowd the picture, the overall sound is midrange-forward, almost a monitor-like tuning. Vocal note weight stays accurate rather than thinning out. There’s actually enough density in texture and vocal tone that gives weight and depth to the mid-range.
Trebles offer the signature BA shimmer you’d expect – clean, crisp splashes and refined texture. The T-100B does an excellent job of micro-detailing the highs with finesse and detail that are usually found in higher-end IEMs. Many 1BA or fewer driver IEMs may show qualities similar to or better than the T-100B, though treble is the hardest to get right, and the T-100B nailed it. Neutral yet airy and tasteful timbre, resolving, accurate, and mature in tuning. Instrumental details and separation are outstanding, apart from being 1BA. I don’t mind praising exceptionally highly for these trebles. The soundstage is decent, creating a headroom of a decent-sized monitoring room. It’s not meant for immersive or grand presentation, though it does get sizeable and holographic enough for immersion and focus.
T100B compared to other IEMs (Kotori Audio Vampire, Zephyr, and AFUL Magic One) / Verdicts