Sound Impressions: Bass
Diamond has a well-balanced, w-shaped sound signature. Let’s start with the bass. Diamond’s bass is assertive and impactful, yet incredibly well composed and organized. It has great size and depth, creating a holographic and immersive bass presentation. The bass is thick in tone, and the titanium chassis does its job in the bass by adding weight and density to the bass notes. It has to do with the metal chassis, too, though Diamond has tactile punchiness and weight to the bass notes, which aren’t too common to be found in a lot of IEMs. Vibrations are cleaner and more natural than those generated by BC drivers.
Having a full-bodied bass with condensed, tight notes makes the lows incredibly bold, solemn, and prominent. The sub-bass quantity is actually quite modest compared to its musical presence, being similar or only slightly stronger than those that are v-shaped. It’s definitely much stronger than reference tunings or actual flat-sounding IEMs (ex. Faith Audio Labs E1000), though Diamond’s sub-bass quantity isn’t something that would be sufficient for hardcore bassheads. However, if you appreciate a balanced sound tuning that offers plenty of bass, Diamond’s bass would have just the right portion. That elastic and “glutinous” bass dynamics is something unique to dynamic drivers, and Diamond makes you feel all that while keeping the sound well-controlled.
Sound Impressions: Mids / Timbre
The common drawback or vulnerability of using a single driver has to do with creating natural vocals that harmonize with the bass. TXN Audio did an excellent job in this field, being one of the core strengths of Diamond. Vocals are only slightly pulled forward and create an exceptionally natural and seamless transition from the bass. Neither detached nor mixed, yet the lower vocals are very natural and pronounced without sounding subdued or wonky. Mids are a nice mix of creamy and crisp, with vocals that sound buttery smooth yet high-resolution thanks to the silky, micro-layered textures. Diamond doesn’t overexecute the vocals to sound surreal or aggressively analytical. Instead, it desires a smooth, comfort-listening environment, being equipped with a TOTL resolution and technicality, of course.
Mids have an organic, unique weight-infused timbre thanks to the titanium shells. It has a slight husky tone without getting dry or crackling, offering a very charming tone to the mids. It has a neutral-warm tone and progresses to neutral (or a small step towards neutral-bright), gaining more transparency and crispness on the upper-mids. The sibilance is well controlled without noticeable spikes or shrillness, though having the upper mids slightly crisper and shinier may be putting off those who are particularly sensitive to bright sounds and trebles. However, don’t get me wrong, as Diamond’s vocals keep a very well-leveled and stable flow across the range by standard means. Diamond keeps a flatter vocal flow with more tamed upper-mid shine than that of other IEMs we’ve reviewed, to have shinier upper ends. Mids are neutral-thick in body.
Sound Impressions: Highs / Soundstage
Tasteful and clean air transmission through the titanium chassis is a lingering fun to listen to. Like other titanium IEMs I’ve listened to (Dita Dream XLS, Canpur CP622B Ti, etc.), trebles come and disperse with a lively ambiance. Highs are clean and pleasant to listen to, though they don’t take over the main stage, but play more of a supportive role. What’s nice about Diamond is that the level of detail and prominence aren’t compromised at all; just the brightness and quantities are toned down adequately. Enough transparency and air are already amplified in the mids and upper-mids, hence the fatigue control in the high frequency makes Diamond’s tonal balance right on point. Brightness is slightly reserved compared to the vocals, yet with crystal-clear treble notes.
The soundstage being made by Diamond is something very special, differing a lot from conventional 1DD IEMs I’ve heard from. The headroom and separation Diamond offers are unique enough that you can’t easily tell if Diamond actually only uses a single driver. Like any well-tuned 1DD IEMs, Diamond has some sense of ‘flatness’ to the phasing, though this doesn’t mean the sound actually is flat or two-dimensional – as mentioned above, holographic presentation is a big part of Diamond after all. Diamond reflects the pinpoint phasing accuracy that gives this sense of flatness. However, within this accurate and natural phasing presentation, Diamond creates an extremely holographic, spatial sound. In many ways, including the soundstage and acoustic characters, this reminds me of the 64 Audio U12T, but with punchier bass and richer tonality.
Next Page: 1DD IEMs Comparisons (Dita Perpetua / Final Audio A8000 / Faith Audio Labs E1000) & Verdicts