Disclaimer: Yinyoo sent the D2B4 to ohm, straight, for the purposes of a review. I paid nothing for it. It goes for around 110$ YSD, and houses six drivers, two dynamic and four balanced armatures, in a hybrid format. You can find out all about it here: Yinyoo D2B4 2DD+4BA 10mm Graphene Diaphragm Dynamic Hybrid In Ear Earphone.
NOTE: due to a publish error on my part, this review had to be temporarily removed. Apologies. Please check out my Headfonics review of it for more detail.
NOTE II: this review has been updated to be easier for me to read for the YouTube video linked below.
Prior to the D2B4 arriving at my doorstep I knew nothing about Yinyoo. As far as I can tell, they are an upscale Chi-Fi brand, evidently with a bit of controversy behind their name. The D2B4’s been in my studio for a month or more and in my ears for a little less than that. It is made well, and it sounds damn good.
Relevant links:
Headfonics review: Yinyoo D2B4
OHMAGE TO THE HIDIZS MS1 AND MS4
OHMAGE TO THE CAMPFIRE AUDIO ATLAS
Haptics and build: ohmage and porridge
I’ve got to admit that I’ve had enough of these custom-cum-universal designs. When perfectly formed, they fit solidly and securely, but when they miss, they can’t too much to one side or the other, leaving gaps in the tragus. Typically, they are big, bulbous, and ugly. The D2B4 isn’t pretty, but its hard edges and bevels give it a smarter, lower profile look.
In my ears, the D2B4 is both less secure and less comfy than Hidizs’s MS1/4. Its forward, bevelled edge rises clear out of the ear. Hardly anything of it lies flat or secure. Your ears and my ears are different. Yours may get on well with it. Universal earphones whose central chassis sits low in the ear are - for me at least - more comfy. Examples of good-fitting universals are Beyerdynamic’s Xelento, Audio Technica’s CK10, and Ultarsone’s IQ. Sure, they have less room inside for drivers galore, but they fit well, and largely disappear. Imagine if Beyerdynamic’s Xelento were bigged-up a bit. Too many custom-cum-universals forgo proper ergonomic design for what amounts to the cheap faxing of a favoured staff’s ear impressions.
Whether or not you find it comfy, the D2B4 is made well. Check out that grill. Check out that bevel. Even the MMCX port is neat and tidy. Following clean form form is clean, thickly laid type, and slick ports.
Yank with all my might, and the cable barely budges. I reckon it could garrotte a horse. (I’ll get back to you on that one.) It’s also pretty microphonic, transferring touch noise - both major and minor - to the ear. The MMCX sleeves have a springy, hardened TPU feel to them. Very nice. They also lack stress reliefs. Instead, they sport tight heat shrink that only barely impedes comfy glasses wearing. That sleeve is well-positioned but I can see it eventually fraying at the sleeve.
The slimline y-split is nice and bendy and the low-profile neck cinch does its job. I also dig the 3,5mm plug whose elbows come with a contoured DSLR-style thumb-stop.
In general, this is quality stuff.
Accessories: ohmage and porridge
The tiny, cardboard shoebox the D2B4 comes in shines metallically in blue or purple. Inside, a cheap, hard-packed foam insert keeps things together. It’s mostly but not entirely free of the icky, chemical smell which plagues Tin HiFi’s T series.
It’s even got a zippered carry pouch. And, gosh, if it isn’t the quality and finish and design equivalent of the thing included with Ultrasone’s 3500$ Saphire, I’ll be damned. Pretty? No. And neither is its massive logo, that when viewed upside down, reads DORNIA or DORNIR. At least it does its job.
The ear pads are translucent greyish or opaque blackish. The greyish ones are pretty tough. They also hurt my ears. Their solid cores stay rigid in the ear, and only barely affect sound output. Minor raised belts around the middle do a number on my ears. The black ones are softer sided and for me at least, more comfortable. Depending on your ears, they may also show greater effect on sound.
Both are free of moulding blemishes, and impeccably machined.
Kitsch: ohmage and porridge
Yinyoo’s logo looks like water spitting out from between two halves of a barbel set- or from between a divided hamburger. Or a hat. It’s lazy stuff. Its typography is pretty cool though. It’s got a bit of the Ninjago in there, with good kerning. It is boxy and hefty.
Sound: ohmage
After the BGVP DM6, the D2B4 is refreshing. It is bright where it needs to be, and boxy where necessary. It spits bass with sound pressure about a step and a half above neutral. Yeah, that means a mild dose of rumble in the opening seconds to Marcus Schulz’s Mainstage. And in there is good stereo information in the lows with decent texture thrown in.
The transition to mids is tight, and wow, do mid range stereo cues go wide. In fact, it is entirely possible that they go wider than is strictly optimal where frequency zones transition. The result is an abrupt step up in stereo spread between lows and mids.
The D2B4’s boxiness here begins.
Mids spread wide, with a behind-the-head stereo wrap. Y-axis stereo information is meagre when pushed forward along the Z-axis, but stands tall and even from end to end along the X-axis. Z-axis detail and spread occupies as much space behind-the-ear as it does in front of it. It’s like sitting between competing stage monitors.
The D2B4’s boxiness here continues.
If you’re a fan of upscale digital amps, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Stereo spread is yuuuuge and sticky from floor to ceiling; detail within its bounds is big.
Highs are bright but not peaky and you’ll find no no sibilance anywhere. Bass, highs, and mids occupy roughly equally sized stereo zones and maintain similar sound pressure. Vocals jumps clearly out, but have to compete in a crazy-wide stereo spread. Do they disappear in the mix? That’s up to your listening style and preferences. For me, they do not, but upper midrange stereo detail and spread crashes in here and there, softening focus in the voicals. Percussion can get pretty bright. At times, it pushes ahead of mids about a step. Chimes come and go wide along circular paths like flashing, bump-to-the-head Looney Tunes stars.
Would I prefer a bit less box in the stereo spread? A bit more fade to the sides especially in the lows and highs? Finer gradients? Yes to each. Or maybe. But I’m also as loyal to unabashedly boxy digital sound as I am to softer, dulcet analogue timbre.
I hope that’s not confusing. The D2B4 is boxy throughout. And thanks to that box, compression of the midrange, as well as runaway highs and lows, is basically null. It’s even keel straight ahead, and every frequency band is energetic, bouncy, wide, and stereo-detailed.
Recovery in both lows and highs is fast, and, as far as I can tell, the D2B4 is reverb free. It sure is muscly, but it is also generally accent free. I have to be honest, that if you gave me a choice between the warmth of a Hidizs MS4 and the boxy strength of the D2B4, I’d be hard put to to decide a favourite. If I chose the D2B4, I’d surely miss the subtle texture nuances and gentle, warm midrange of the MS4. But gosh, the speed and sheer power of the confluent D2B4 is addictive. And, for a wider range of music, I prefer the D2B4 to the MS1. But when transitional nuance and clarity alone is important, it’s MS1 all the way.
End words
The D2B4 goes for a little more than 100$ USD. For what you get, that’s a steal. It’s not the most comfortable earphone out there. It’s cable is pretty microphonic, its branding is a real mish-mash, and its ear pads don’t jive well with sensitive ears.
Its bass, highs, and stereo spread get aggressively boxy. In the right/wrong genre, its highs can get hot. But they never too hot or too boxy. The D2B4 occupies one of the best spots among wide-set aggressive or shouldery earphones. It’s big everywhere and exciting everywhere. If excitement is your ticket, you’d be a fool not to queue for the D2B4.
ohmage: 4
porridge: 3