Linsoul RAPTGO Hook-X 14.2mm Open Planar Diaphragm Driver + PZT Driver HiFi in-Ear Earphone with Detachable 0.78 2pin OCC Cable for Musician Audiophile

Product Information

wasn’t the most exciting year in terms of the Chifi IEMs release, and safe tuning begin to ruin the listening fun we are seeking too. As if dynamic rendering always implies bad tonal loudness balance. Midrange​The midrange of the Hook-X does have good body and a little warmth carried over from the low-end. Mids sound forward as a whole and have good clarity. Notes have a crispness to them, and resolution is above average to me. Still the speed and separation of the midrange is quite good without losing that emotional tilt to my music. The midrange has an engaging quality to it, more so than the hi-res Timeless. Instead, the Hook has a more expressive and smoother and more moving presentation. The Timeless is a great set but for me the Hook-X fits me better. As a whole I’m not mad at the treble area of the Hook. Maybe it isn’t as detailed as some iems but it is musical and engaging. The treble fits the replay just fine. Treble Heads may be left wanting, but for those who want a non-pain, non-fatigue and zero shrill treble performance… my friends the Hook-X. That’s right, the Hook-X’s 14.2mm planar magnetic driver is paired with a bone-conduction driver. The planar driver is said to provide a strong bass response, while the piezoelectric driver handles the highs.

Not only violin sound marvelous, well resolve, and full-bodied but even the harp is properly presented, sure to achieve perfection I would have added a hint of brilliance and perhaps more boost past 10kz, but the notes well define, and pulling of strings have this clean snap and sense of openness permit long resonance enough, it’s a realist and very musical, without overly boosted texture that would ruin the listen by adding an unwanted patch of string rubbing or vibration noise artifacts. I think it's evident that the Dunu Talos is a joke compared to the Hook X HBB. No more comments apart that planar mode is good and offers a smoother leaner and more neutral tonality than HBB, with inferior technicalities and less dynamic and engaging musicality. This is the first hybrid planar iem that I’ve tried, and it really does what a hybrid should; combine the strengths of the different driver types. If you’ve tried a planar iem before and loved the crisp detail and realistic instrument placement, but wished it had a little more of the dense buttery low-end of a dynamic driver – then this might be the iem for you. The hook-x has a really pleasing warm tuning which highlights the bass while also allowing for a great sense of clarity and detail. Unfortunately, the cable included with my first unit experienced a quality control failure out of the box. The wiring for the right channel was faulty somewhere above the swappable termination and only outputted at full volume when held in certain orientations. Swapping to another cable fixed the issue. I also obtained a replacement unit, which did not have this issue with the cable. This failure has been reported by other end-users on Head-Fi. It is a shame that this issue exists because I like the Hook-X’s cable from an aesthetic and functional perspective, and I presume that the modular cable design is in large part responsible for the Hook-X’s price premium over similarly-specced planar-magnetic IEMs like the 7Hz Timeless and Letshuoer S12.Extending to the upper extremes, the PZT drivers aren’t exactly as forward or obvious as expected but the room information is there. Timbre The effect is just hearing more. Especially this trait becomes known in the vocal areas. As when higher detail is arranged for the vocals you start to notice how many variations there are. They of course were always there except never revealed. The phenomenon that is super noticeable is pace.

I was looking forward to the HBB x Raptgo Hook. I have ranked and tried out the original Hook, but wanted to try something with a different look.. I chose this album not because the sound goes with the HOOK-X, even though it does. But because it represents a paradigm shift to the tectonic plates. A shift in popular culture. A single vent resides near the base of the nozzle. RAPTGO chose to go with standard 0.78mm 2-pin connectors which I prefer over the MMCX alternative. The connectors sit on the shell’s surface in a slightly raised and reinforced section.

Bass response of the Hook-X is, in my opinion, the standout quality of the IEM. While the sub-bass doesn’t reach all that low, the impact it provides is tight and incredibly controlled. The same can be said about the mid-bass, where you’ll also immediately notice the speed of the bass – fast and full of energy. Though I have to say this recording is highly distorted at times. It's like the process of recording a live orchestra and synthesizers was too much to actually put down on tape. They just went ahead and let everything become too hot maybe, or they thought the red-line effect was cool? What ever the story we can at least enjoy this masterwork for the sounds and musical ideas, even though the recording process is questionable, if not revolutionary! Iron man - The sound at the beginning is hard to make sound great, great drums, and cymbals, and if done right it feels like an old-school band. It's slightly bright, without problematic peaks, harshness, or sibilance, so smoothly bright we can say where lushness meets brightness with appealing bass warmth basis.

Stuff is detailed, crystal-clear and fast! Really fast! Maybe just slightly less physicality, but the trade off is nimbleness and agility! Both clear and analog. Being well defined, sculpted, fast and pure. I know those are a lot of adjectives, well try the HOOK-X and you will see for yourself. It’s not that anything is disjointed somehow, that everything is coming from the same grocery store. Yet there is separation and elements which are defined. At first there really wasn’t all that much bass. I even accused the HOOK-X of being thin and airy, never to alter or blossom-out. But no.........the HOOK-X proved me wrong, becoming all grown-up with a full-example of character. The fact is the bass bumps and scales and does it all just the way we want it. Any ineptness has been left at the doorsteps.

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At 46 seconds the real bass hits, and while it has impact it’s kinda this whole flowing mood, where nothing is too abrupt, even though it is spectacularly an abrupt musical piece. This is maybe the magic at hand? The fact that everything is slightly sanded down to a digestible level. Not bad in any way, but smooth! Comparison: I hate to say it, but let’s compare it to the original Raptgo Hook. It’s basically the same with some slight tuning changes. I do like the blue a bit more, yet it’s premium for a somewhat minor tuning change. But probably the best part is simply how they fit. The included tips as well as aftermarket tips have a freedom of positioning to arrive at placement success. Raptgois a Chinese earphone company that is mostly known for its best-selling Hook X hybrid IEM, but they have other IEMs with different drivers configuration which include single DD, hybrid DD+BA, and Multi-BAs.

DAPS:-- Shanling M5s, M6pro 21, FiiO M15, M11pro, Cayin N3pro, Sony NE-MW1A ,Sony zx507, A55, Hidizs AP80 Pro,Shanling M0 Pro, Shanling M6 ULTRA, Shanling M3X The Raptgo Hook X HBB is a fresh breath of air in this IEM world invade with Harman and DF neutral tuning and offers a muscular musicality that doesn't bet on one specific frequency range and delivers full-bodied dynamic for bass, mids, and treble.

CASE: The case is simple and perfectly compact. I use this case as my daily case for whenever I am out of the house. And while I can’t confirm the complete tuning variations between the different colored tips, I found the white and green ones closer to one another. The white has the same pleasing mids but with a slight boost in the treble area, while the green is slightly more relaxed in the bass and lower treble.