KT MARK: IV
The new version of Hana actually came so quickly, which KT did not expect, after all, the oxygen released earlier than Hana is now not a mass-produced upgrade replacement model (Asano Amano Special Edition is a limited edition after all), but it is true that Hana, as one of the most personally rated products in the entire series of Angel Jimmy brands, can improve itself, which is of course very good news.
After a year, when the packaging of the new Hana was opened, the whole process was full of familiarity, the binding design, the placement of the accessories, etc., and the new Hana did not make any changes. The reason for this is also related to the fact that the packaging of the old version of Hana is mature enough. For the unboxing process, please refer to the unboxing video, which will not be expanded here. In terms of accessories, as with the previous generation, the new Hana is equipped with two plates of white silicone ear tips with different sound directions (T-APB ear tips that do not seem to be sold separately), spare filters and a variety of non-reading series of paper pieces. The storage bag is as always, or the exquisite white imitation leather bag, the zipper's jam problem is not known to be the cause of the batch, better than the old one equipped, the volume is still just put down the new Hana body and a small tail, portability and pressure resistance are no problem.
The workmanship of the new Hana is eye-catching, remembering KT's complaint about the workmanship of the Hana cavity a year ago, "When I first saw the picture, KT thought it was plastic... For a moment after getting my hand, KT felt like ceramics again." Indeed, the old cavity treatment is like directly devolving the process of oxygen, but the white paint gives people the illusion. But the new Hana's sense of fluidity can be described in one word – "reborn". Although the basic material of the cavity itself is 316 stainless steel, the new Hana paint process adds white porcelain imitation enamel paint, which will have a more porcelain texture on the basis of the original smoothness. The cavity of the old Hana is white throughout, and the seams between the front and rear cavities are somewhat wide, and the new model has made great improvements in the process, and the width of the seams has also been narrowed to make it look more integrated. The new Hana only retains the previous white color, while the remaining chamber parts are all gilded in gold. The gold of the new Hana is not the so-called "local luxury gold", but it is a color between rose gold and champagne gold, but due to the very high gloss, there is still a little bit of my non-gold lover feeling a little dazzling, maybe I still prefer the old model of the all-over white. However, the workmanship and texture of the new Hana are indeed on more than one level. It is also worth pointing out that the pin of the new Hana original wire has been specially improved, which is significantly longer than the conventional 0.78 2pin pin, and the contact area is expanded on the basis of not affecting the general performance of the pin and the socket, the friction resistance of the plug is increased, and the stability of the connection is improved to a considerable extent.
In terms of wearing, because the general contour of the cavity is consistent with the old Hana and oxygen, it is a modification based on the male-like form. There is no need to worry about wearing stability, the size of the cavity is not particularly large, the thickness control is good, but there is no targeted structural design adjustment for the shape of the ear pinna, and the tightness is not very good. Of course, the stimulation of the all-metal cavity in winter also needs attention. The unit body of the new Hana is no different from the original wire and the old model, and the configuration is a high-rigidity liquid crystal diaphragm single dynamic coil unit and OFC wire of DMT architecture, the wire feels good, and the self-winding phenomenon is weak. These two points can also be basically determined, the new Hana quality basic disk is actually not significantly different from the old model, more in the damping, cavity design and machine line and other aspects of the change to adjust, so as to get the result of improvement.
The following subjective description of the sound is all based on the original default white earbud sleeve and the original wire, and the third-party earbud sleeve and wire matching suggestions for the new Hana will be mentioned later.
Remember that the low frequency of the old Hana is moderate in volume, the sense of line is not clean enough, and part of the residual sound is retained, which leads to a sense of layering, although it is done well, but the whole middle and lower plates seem to have the problem of dragging mud and water, but on the new Hana, this problem has been solved to a considerable extent. The low frequencies are cleaner, the sense of line is more condensed, and the sense of volume is not particularly more or less, but most of the instruments in the middle and lower plates of the base tone sound more excellent, and the quality of details has also been heard.
In terms of mid-range, vocals, the performance of the male voice has been improved to a certain extent, but the delicacy of the details feels that it is still a breath, and when the performance of some tracks, it will feel that the graininess of the male voice is more prominent, there is no very smooth feeling, but the reduction of the mouth shape is improved relative to the old model, there is no obvious problem of small mouth shape, it will be more relaxed. The female voice is still an excellent performance that can't fault anything, with a little dyeing but does not affect the overall tone texture, it seems to have made a little adjustment in the direction of more pleasing to the ear, but only fine-tuned. In terms of musical instruments, the timbre of stringed instrument groups is generally more solid and accurate than that of the old model, but there is still a slight dyeing, and when the violin and viola are interpreted, the sense of line is prominent and the degree of delicacy is high. Due to the aforementioned low-frequency improvements, the cello's sense of shape has improved, but after all, in a more limited space, the very low-frequency response is still slightly missing, but for the public appreciation, the new Hana cello solo performance is already a very good level. The amount of detailed information about the acoustic guitar plucking is well preserved, while the overtones have a certain contraction compared to the old model, and the sense of speed has been improved. Wind instruments are generally not as bright as the old ones, appear more universal, and the expression in the base part is also a little rendered, but the overtones are more natural, which can be clearly perceived in the listening of woodwind groups. Percussion, Kick is not very solid, biased problem solved well, providing a more accurate knot size. The irritation problem of cymbals remains, but has been dealt with to the extent more acceptable.
The high frequencies are moderately bright and extended, and the overtones of various instruments have been adjusted to make them cleaner. The size of the soundstage has not changed significantly, and it is still a small-scale soundstage that lacks a slight sense of "height" and is not very obvious. The analytical ability and overall real information volume performance are at the same level as the old Hana, and the separation between the instruments is better, which is also inseparable from the cleaner sound base. Transient and transparency continue the excellent level of the old model, dynamic performance has improved, and the current thousand yuan plug can be ranked to the previous level.
As for ear tips replacement, I personally recommend pairing angel Jimmy's own T-APB ear tips, if you pursue a brighter, more ear-catching mid and high frequency, you can choose a high frequency sleeve with a larger opening, and you can also try the Sonic Memory teacup sleeve and SpinFit CP145 in the same direction. For those who want to further enhance the low-frequency diving and layering, consider pairing it with the AET08. It is not recommended to try multi-section gameplay, whether it is a universal double-section set or a forced set of Inteme ER38-18 (deep insertion can not be), the sound that comes out is a departure from what Hana wants to express. As for the wire upgrade scheme that can be considered, in fact, I will no longer continue to recommend cable S solutions on the old Hana, although it can also be played like this, but it will be a little "late Sony" for the new Hana's current improved low frequency, more fluffy. The recommended combination is Bispa raku, a more expensive wire, and the new version of Ling can actually be tried. It is not recommended to pair the new Hana with so-called monocrystalline silver wire of unknown purity.
After considering various factors, although the new Hana still maintains the iv-level KT MARK comprehensive evaluation (the price has also risen slightly), but the IV-level gold content is much higher than the old model, the current sound form, it should be said that it is finally in line with my expectations for the angel Jimmy brand at a thousand yuan price point. With Darling and the new Hana as mid-range security, it's time for them to tap into the higher-priced market.
KingTsui, from The TDS Studio.
July 2021
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