Intro
HZSOUND is a brand known for Heart Mirror, which offers a very high price performance ratio and received a lot of positive feedback from various reviewers.
Packaging
The packaging is fairly standard, nothing exceptional. However, the bundled accessories for the asking price, it is very generous, with various eartips, extra filters as well as a storage pouch to store the waist drum.
Build/Comfort
Being a bullet styled IEM, I have no problem with the fit, except it has to go a little deeper than usual. Noise isolation is not bad as it is similar to deep insertion. Comfort wise, the waist drum feels very light weight in my ears, so i don’t have any problem wearing them for long hours
Source
Foobar2k -> Questyle M15 -> HZSOUND Waist Drum
Cowon Plenue D2 -> HZSOUND Waist Drum
Sound
Waist Drum is a U shaped sounding IEM to my ears. The tuning is on a safer side which is generally easier to accept/like by the majority, and also less recessed sounding vocal. Note weight is slightly on the thinner side
Bass
Sub bass is rolled off so you don’t really get much rumble
Mid bass is punchy and tight, not to mention it is also fast and clean, clearly the mid bass is the focus here
To my ears, i find the bass’s tuning is just right, not overly emphasised, some call it “audiophile’s” bass
The fast bass makes it very enjoyable on tracks like Metallica’s Master of Puppets and Slipknot’s Duality
Mids
Vocal placement is slightly laid back rather than too forward
Male vocal has got good body and texture to it, while female vocal is a little thin and nasal sounding at times
You can clearly tell that the upper mids are slightly boosted, i’m not that sensitive to the upper mids boost so your mileage might vary. I for one prefer a slight boost on the upper mids to spice things up
Treble
Treble is lacking a little air, but it is good enough
Good amount of details
Smooth and non fatiguing treble, non sibilance
Overall treble performance is good for the asking price
Soundstage/Imaging
Instruments separation is good for the asking price, you can tell the instruments properly without one trying to overpower each other
Imaging is also well done where instruments can be pinpointed easily
Height of soundstage is good but the width is average, not necessarily a bad thing
Driveability
Waist Drum is very easy to drive, it can sound good even on an Apple’s Lightning Dongle. However it does scale with a better source/amp of course.
Pairing it with a warmer source is recommended because of Waist Drum’s thin note weight, it will kind of give a perception of a slightly thicker note weight when paired with a warm source, pairing it with a neutral/analytical source will just make things worse as it is already thin sounding and also the boosted upper mids, it will be very bad for certain people who are sensitive to upper mid boost
Comparison
I do not have Waist Drum’s sibling which is Heart Mirror, so I can't do a direct comparison on both of them. I do have TinHifi’s T1S which is priced slightly below Waist Drum
T1S is more on the fun sounding side of spectrum
Bass does rumble and thump, a little slower than Waist Drum, hence it can get a little muddy on Slipknot’s track, a little too much mid bass to my ears
Treble on T1S is smooth and non fatiguing, in terms of detail retrieval, Waist Drum is better at it, however, T1S does have slight edge where it has a thicker note weight on the treble
Mids are lush on T1S, thick and meaty?
Wider soundstage on the T1S, imaging is more or less the same on both Waist Drum and T1S
Final Thoughts
HZSOUND’s Waist Drum is a highly competent set in terms of technicalities and also price performance ratio. If you are looking for a budget IEM with good technicalities and also safe sounding, look no further as this is the one you could be looking for. At 34$ at the time of writing, it’s a no brainer to me given the performance it offers and also the accessories that came with it.
If you are interested in getting a pair, head over to KeepHifi’s webstore to grab one https://keephifi.com/products/hzsound-waist-drum
*This unit is sent by Mei from KeepHifi for the purpose of this review. I thank her for the opportunity to try this out. I am in no way influenced by KeepHifi to produce this review, all thoughts are of my own and the link provided is not affiliated
