Cool Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro HD. What has changed in the new model
Xiaomi is a diversified company, so in its portfolio you can find: Acustic systems, and headphones. Chinese developers started with the Piston line and this moment The range includes a large number of models, ranging from budget earphones to semi-open headphones - Mi Headphones. In this review we will talk about the top-end in-ear hybrid headphones Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro, which for some reason are also called Mi Quantie and even Mi Hybrid Pro. By the way, the headphones are packed in the best style from Xiaomi, which they “spied” on Apple.
Appearance
The headphones are made in dark colors. The connector, control panel and headphone housing are made of gray metal with a radial pattern.
A little later, Xiaomi released headphones in Rose Gold color. The gold-plated 3.5 mm jack is protected from creases by a rubberized insert. Also noticeable in the design is black plastic. The question arises only in relation to the different braiding - the bifurcated cable has rubberized insulation, and the cord is protected by Kevlar.
Although after several days of using the headphones in the cold, it became clear that the rubber at subzero air temperatures becomes rougher and less elastic. By the way, the cable length is 1.25 m. Here we note that the cable was constantly getting tangled, although this problem is inherent in almost all headphones. There are three keys on the remote control: volume control/switching tracks and answering/pausing calls.
The curved shape of the air duct fits perfectly into the design and promotes a comfortable fit in the ears. For convenient use, Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro comes with four pairs of rubberized earbuds. The quality is excellent, the cable will not break, and the headphones will not break in your pocket. The headset weighs 14 g.
Sound
The peculiarity of Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro is the use of both dynamic and armature drivers, which is why they are called hybrid. Among technical characteristics It is worth highlighting the resistance of 32 Ohms, sensitivity of 101 dB and power of 5 mW. The range is stated to be 20-20,000 Hz.
The sound quality is excellent - both high and low frequencies are perfectly audible. At the same time, even at the maximum volume level, there is no choking or unpleasant sounds. The built-in microphone copes with the task, but it is not suitable for recording high-quality sound.
Impression
Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro are definitely one of the best headphones in their class at a low cost.
So if you need inexpensive but high-quality “ears” with the ability to work in headset mode, then the choice is obvious. They will be better than Apple’s EarPods, but they cannot be compared with expensive “fittings” - they will definitely be better.
Pros: D design, workmanship, excellent sound, low price
Minuses: L e gko get confused
Specifications:
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Most recently, we recognized the Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro (aka Xiaomi Hybrid) best headphones-plugs costing up to 2000 rubles. Last year, the manufacturer updated its line of headphones, and Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro went on sale HD(aka Xiaomi Hybrid Pro) and today we’ll try to figure out whether it’s worth paying the extra 300-500 rubles for this update. Looking ahead, I can immediately say that the changes turned out to be very ambiguous. But first things first.
(update from 01/21/2019):At the end of 2018, another update to the Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro 2 model appeared, which is easily distinguished by its black color. Unfortunately, the sound in them has become worse and we still suggest choosing from two old models: simply Pro and ProHD.
We deal with the zoo of names of the same models
Before going ahead, it's worth understanding the names of the headphones. Xiaomi loves to create confusion in its lineups, and in the case of headphones in general, it took and at some point renamed the models a couple of times. Now not only do they have almost the same name, but they also echo the old names. The situation is aggravated by the fact that in different stores, headphones can be called both new and old. As a result, it is not always easy to understand what kind of model is in front of us and how much it actually costs.
So, for the sake of order. At first there was Xiaomi model Hybrid (aka Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers, since this name reflected their design feature, plus sometimes they were also called Piston 4). Then the model was slightly updated and renamed Xiaomi Hybrid Pro. Later they were renamed as Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro. And when a radically updated version came out, an HD console was attached to it. As a result new model is now officially called Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones ProHD.
The most interesting thing is that on both models, on the body of the headphones themselves there is the inscription HD Audio, which further confuses uninitiated users. Therefore, some sellers sell the old model as simply Hybrid Dual Drivers, and the new one as Hybrid Dual Drivers Pro, rightly believing that the Pro prefix reflects the essence of the changes much better.
Confused? Still would. Therefore, the easiest way to understand what kind of model is in front of us is to look at the control panel. The remote control with three separate buttons is a new and improved model. If these are three solid black buttons, we have an old model.
What's good about the old model?
The first Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro (let's forget about all the renaming for a moment) stood out very much good value price/sound. Sound quality was achieved through the use of two so-called hybrid drivers (essentially two speakers). If you are uncomfortable reading a large text, then below is a 10-minute video telling about the same thing, only shorter. If you text is more convenient and/or details are important, then welcome below.
A little theory, as they say, on your fingers. Frequencies are high, medium and low (bass). As a rule, a high-quality driver can perform well only two sets of frequencies out of three. Those. either high and mid, or mid and bass, etc. Drivers can be dynamic or reinforced. Reinforcing bars produce more high quality sound, however, due to the peculiarities of the technology (which, by the way, came from hearing aids), handles high and mid frequencies well. But the bass is very bad there. Therefore, armature headphones, as a rule, are made with two drivers, so that a separate driver handles the bass.
But two drivers are very expensive. Therefore, Xiaomi (even with the correct pronunciation of the company there are obvious problems, because even the top officials at presentations manage to call it by different names), instead of the second armature driver, installed a cheaper dynamic one. As a result, theoretically, high and mid frequencies are audible in detail, and the bass is good due to the dynamic driver. Well, the price turned out to be nice. That's why we called them the best headphones under 1,500 rubles.
However, these headphones also had drawbacks - in terms of sound, they were not very balanced: high and low frequencies seemed to be raised, which is why the sound fell into a mess. Let's see if these problems are fixed in the next version.
What has changed in the new model
First of all, the price has changed. New headphones now cost 500 rubles more, i.e. very close to 2000 rubles. We'll see now whether this increase in price is fair. Well, let's start with appearance and configurations.
The packaging of the new headphones has become larger (in the photo they are on the right and the contents of the box are pulled out).
Inside the box was a small plastic case, inside which were the headphones themselves and replacement ear pads. A plus for the new model is now a simple carrying case with the logo of 1More Design, a company that develops designs for Xiaomi. Having another brand on the package also creates confusion, which is why people often search for xiaomi headphones 1More. This is not entirely true.
Thus, the equipment has noticeably improved - the old model in the box only had the headphones themselves and silicone tips sealed in a bag.
Now about the headphones themselves – they have remained virtually unchanged in appearance. The only exception is that the wires are connected to the headphones themselves slightly differently, the housing of the speakers has become matte instead of shiny, and the weight has increased a little - they began to use more metal in the headphones.
Leftoldheadphones Xiaomi Headphones Pro (theyor Hybrid Pro or Xiaomi Pro) . On right– new Hybrid HD
If you don't know, you won't notice much of a difference. Only the remote control has changed noticeably - finding individual buttons by touch has become much more convenient. Another change (for the worse) affected the cable itself. Previously it was in a nice braid, now it’s just regular rubber. By the way, just as the volume up buttons did not work on the iPhone, they do not work on new version. Those. functionally nothing has changed.
LeftoldXiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers, also known as Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro. On the right - new ones with an attachmentHD
About the main thing, about the sound
As you can see, external changes are minimal (except for the package itself and the remote control). The main changes took place “under the hood”. Judging by the presentation of the Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro HD model, Xiaomi has worked significantly on the dynamic driver. According to the authors, the headphones use a kind of double graphene membrane, which significantly improves playback low frequencies.
I must say that the bass has really improved. The old (or now it would be more correct to say, the younger model) bass was quite strong, and the bass was quite booming. Now the bass has become much less noticeable, and it seems that the detailing of other frequencies should have increased. However, in fact this did not happen. The sound now looks as if the bass was severely cut and the mids were turned up halfway. The same first Hybrid Dual Drivers have a richer, I would say, more colored sound. Which, damn it, comes through the booming bass.
In order not to be unfounded, I will give the so-called AFC (amplitude-frequency response) - a characteristic that clearly, without any subjectivity, shows the real capabilities of the headphones. First, let's look at the ideal frequency response for headphones of our type and sign in which part of the graph the bass, mid and high frequencies are located.
The top graph shows how ideal headphones should behave, playing music as they are. The yellow dotted line is headphones for bass lovers, and the blue dotted line is “ears” that stick out vocals. For more detailed information You can follow the article on doctorhead.ru, where these graphs were taken from.
Now let's look at what similar frequency responses look like for Xiaomi Mi Headphones Pro and Pro HD
The graph clearly shows how the bass was turned up in first Xiaomi Pro, and that in the new Pro HD they are reduced, and they are reduced along with the mid frequencies, which in previous HDs were responsible for subjectively pleasant vocals. Well, the graph clearly shows how any Xiaomi headphones behave at high frequencies, raising them to an unpleasant squeak. However, alas, this is a disease of almost any budget headphones.
I could stop at this point and simply advise you to buy old version headphones, however, this booming bass leads to the fact that on compositions that are difficult in terms of distinguishing low frequencies, such as “This is the new shift” by Marilyn Manson, the music generally merges into an indistinguishable mess. And here the HD version sounds objectively better. However, on jazz compositions like “Who will comfort me” by Melody Gardot, in the old “ears” we hear quite pleasant highs and mids, while the HD version of the headphones clearly cuts them.
Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem. The point is that in the version Pro HD There is a small hole under the tips that releases air in front of the low-frequency driver.
If you seal it, the headphones start to sound just like regular Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro. It is clear that in this case there is no point in overpaying for HD. However, the trick is that this hole is oval. And by sealing it partially (for example, halfway) or completely sealing it, but pricking 1-2 holes with a needle (precisely pricking so that the needle does not go inside and damage the membrane), you can achieve an increase in the bass level and a slight increase in the mids. In other words, you can physically, without an equalizer, adjust the sound of the headphones to suit you. In this case, the headphones sound quite decent.
By the way, if you pay attention to the photo, you can see how people are trying to solve the problems of ultra-high frequencies by partially covering the headphone output with adhesive tape. The effectiveness of this method personally seems doubtful to me. However, everyone's ears are different, it helps some.
Why you shouldn't buy Pro2 (updated 01/21/2019)
Late 2018 of the year Xiaomi introduced an update to its Pro headphones, adding the index “2” to them. The headphones are black and have an L-shaped plug. Otherwise, the appearance has remained virtually unchanged, and the main difference now lies in the sound. It’s interesting that from now on the headphones are made not by a third-party company, 1More, which was previously responsible for hybrids, but by some internal division. And apparently this unit still has to learn and learn.
So, what happened to the sound? Imagine taking a song and using equalizer to stretch out the vocals. As a result, the voice sounds great, but the music is background loses some detail. Moreover, this seems to be the same Pro series, characterized by strong bass. However, it got worse here too, because the bass became noticeably “dirtier” and less detailed.
Thus, these headphones should be considered not as a step forward, but as marking time and even half a step back. Therefore, if you are just looking at purchasing, it is better to prefer older models. New Pro 2 we categorically do not recommend and in the following article we pretend that they simply do not exist.
Additional improvement in ear fit and sound quality
Since both models are budget, the included ear pads (silicone tips) are of very, very mediocre quality. As a result, the headphones stay in my ear very poorly. Because of this, both comfort and sound quality suffer.
Luckily, there is such a thing as replaceable memory foam tips. You take the earphone in your fingers, squeeze it, and while it slowly straightens back, you stick it into your ear. As a result, the nozzle is shaped exactly to fit your ear canal, providing excellent sound insulation.
The most famous manufacturer of such foam ear pads is Comply. There is a section on their website that allows you to select the size of nozzles for specific models. From it we learn that our model is suitable for attachments with index 200 and that such a set will cost $20 for three pairs.
Fortunately, foam tips are not the most difficult thing and a search on Aliexpress for t200 (4 mm diameter) makes it easy to find an offer of 60 rubles per pair. Since our headphones are Chinese, we will also take the tips from China.
What do we get for 60 rubles. The tips fit perfectly and work exactly as they should - expanding in the ear and “sealing” the ear canal.
As a result, the headphones hold up very well. And musical details become audible much better. On forums of other headphones they often say that such foam tips change the sound somewhat (allegedly the upper ones are slightly cut), but I did not notice this. All the advantages and disadvantages of both headphones can be heard in the same way. Except that now they can be heard better.
As for the disadvantages of the foam tips themselves, they only have one - the ear pads quickly get dirty and fail. The lifespan, depending on the intensity of use, is about 2-3 months. Essentially, these are Consumables with a very low cost.
conclusions
Both models, Pro and ProHD, are far from ideal, but for such a price you can forgive them a lot. All that remains is to choose which model is right for you. Therefore, if you are a fan of heavy or electronic music, if you like bass, you really really like it, take simple Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro for 1000-1200 rubles (now it’s a sales period and you can get them for a completely ridiculous 800 rubles). In addition, you will receive clearly distinguishable and uncut frequencies of other ranges (problems only with the midrange). Well, the price is more than reasonable.
Pro2 - as already mentioned in the corresponding section, we do not recommend it, unless you are a fan of audiobooks. This is where voice highlighting comes in handy.
If your phone is Android and has Root
If your phone is Rooted, then the sound of the device can be “adjusted” to the headphones. To do this, firstly you need to install ViPER4Android FX (V4A), global system equalizer. Then install the profiles from this message on the 4pda website.
Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones – give good sound tell your story. Hybrid headphones with two types of emitters, a three-module sound source, balanced natural sound.
DEEP SOUND DETAIL
The headphones are equipped with three sound modules: a balanced armature, a dynamic and an armature driver. This allows you to hear an amazing amount of detail. The special design of the emitter gives elastic, sustained bass, and due to the use of graphene in the speaker device, the sound receives deep detail. High frequencies sound transparent and natural, without any distortion.
FINE TUNING
Fine tuning makes the sound lively, bright and warm. Four-time Grammy Award-winning musician Luca Bignardi took part in the development of technical specifications, bringing his vision of sound to the headphones.
FUTURISTIC DESIGN
The thoughtful matte braided wire made of TPE plastic guarantees a long service life, while at the same time having an excellent appearance. The exceptional appearance played a big role in the sound quality. The ergonomic shape of the silicone tip fits comfortably into the ear at an angle of 45 degrees, which prevents any distortion and gives greater sound integrity. The metal body promotes high-quality resonance.
Many people liked the Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Pro hybrid headphones; it was a great opportunity to “try out” the pure sound of armatures for a small price tag. But they also had disadvantages - first of all, a weak “middle”. Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Pro HD is a logical development of the previous model, in which they tried to remove this drawback.
Unlike the previous, 1+1 driver version (one armature and one dynamic emitter), this version has 2+1 drivers (2 dynamic, one armature).
Characteristics
Type: In-Ear
Cable length: 1.25m
Connection type: 3.5mm
Power: 5mW
Resistance: 32 Ω
Sensitivity: 98 dB
Frequency range: 20-20,000Hz
Appearance
In terms of design, the Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphone Pro HD is very similar to the previous model, and completely different from the same Piston. The design of the headphones is still being developed by 1 More Design studio. The packaging is done effectively.
The kit includes replaceable silicone tips for different ear sizes.
And also a felt bag for carrying.
The headphones are made of high quality, the body is metal with plastic inserts. They look very strong.
The metal has a circular finish at the back. Effective.
The HD Audio inscriptions seem to tell us about the audiophile orientation of the headphones, although they are, of course, household products for casual listening.
Three-button remote control, convenient.
In Android all buttons work, in Apple only the central one works.
The jack is compact, gold plated.
Listening to sound
The headphones are household and inexpensive, so I thought that connecting them to the player did not make much sense; I used my phone without a dedicated audio chip as a sound source. As practice shows, such headphones are mainly used with phones. However, I took the songs in MP3 320, and used AIMP for listening.
The main weakness of the previous headphones, Xiaomi In-Ear Pro, was the lack of development of the mid frequencies (and in general, their “overwhelmingness”). It was precisely in order to get rid of such “crumpledness” that another driver was added. Compared to the In-Ear Pro HD version, it sounds much more balanced, but still, the lack of mids is felt even more strongly when compared with the smoother Piston 3.
But what bass the Xiaomi In-Ear Pro HD has! Clean, powerful, neat, as if penetrating deep into the brain. It felt like I was in a movie theater with a high-end sound system. Very similar to what the more expensive Sennheiser CX300 produces, which are famous for their “bassiness”. High ones are also good, however, how could it be otherwise with reinforcement bars.
I also really liked the fact that the sound became a little more collected, its accentuated transparency disappeared, which in the Xiaomi In-Ear Pro greatly interfered with listening to compositions that were originally intended to be dense. At the same time, there is no feeling of a certain “viscosity” inherent in dynamic headphones.
In general, the sound is good for listening to rock, metal, and electronic music. It is bright and recognizable - apparently, Xiaomi decided to search for its own sound, instead of trying to make it neutral.
Total
Well-made headphones, at an attractive price, with bright sound, powerful and beautiful, but not very close to the reference. If you are not concerned about acoustic accuracy, and you do not have 100+ dollars to buy headphones of a higher class or more balanced, then there are simply no other alternatives. We must take it.
Due to a rather vague company policy, names can be found on the Internet review, review or characteristics specific model headphones are not easy. This trick won't work just once or twice. And all because at the moment of release hybrid headphones were called Xiaomi Hybrid, and then renamed Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro. However, this is just the beginning.
The same “ears” that we have in our review are called almost the same. Only the HD console has been added. Well, we are waiting for the continuation in the form of Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro HD Hi-Res Plus Gen. 2 or something like that. In general, we still have time to go crazy from such naming. But let's leave all this on the conscience of the manufacturer. Let's move on directly to the product.
Equipment
Compared to the previous generation, and I will compare our “ears” with their predecessors throughout the entire review, the box has become more serious. A small, neat box, inside of which there is a separate package with a carrying case (!) and a separate plastic box where the headphones themselves lie neatly and wait in the wings.
In general, this is not the first time I have encountered such packaging. It has existed since Piston of different generations. And then it impressed with its quality, and now it is a kind of production standard in China. Even headphones that cost 4-5 dollars are packaged in exactly the same boxes, so there is nothing extraordinary here. But the fact that they included a carrying case is a clear nod to the user. It’s not for nothing that the prefix “HD” was added.
In addition to the case, the kit includes interchangeable ear pads in three sizes: L, M and S. I personally like the largest ones, and then with a reservation.
Design and convenience
Right on the packaging there is the inscription “1more design”. The thing is that Xiaomi produces headphones with the support of the 1more brand. I don’t know how tight the integration of companies into each other is here, but it exists and it’s a fact.
In general, gadgets released under this brand have quite an impressive appearance and are much more expensive than models from Xiaomi of the same design. Probably, the latter subsidize the production of products under their label. There is no other way to explain the ultra-low cost of three-drive “hybrids”.
Continuity is visible to the naked eye, but the changes are still quite significant. The body of the “ears” has become more streamlined, the plastic inserts at the ends have disappeared, and others have appeared, now glossy. In general, the appearance has been refreshed and, to my taste, has become more interesting.
They say that metal case These “ears” are produced in as many as 25 stages. On the official website there is a lot of blah blah blah about sandblasting, they even indicated the diameter of the particles for some reason. In general, the main thing we need to know is that the driver housing is very cool and should be perceived as very expensive. In principle, this is how it is perceived.
But I can’t praise the developers for abandoning rag winding. I saw a terrible horror on the Internet when some users had the braid frayed, fluffed up, etc. Nothing like this happened to my copy during the year of operation. And I am not very careful when it comes to such accessories. I throw and crumple the “ears” in vain, from time to time I even lose them and still there is no hint of any significant deterioration in appearance.
I don't think soft cable insulation made from a special material called TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) is the best possible options. In theory, this is a very cool polymer that successfully resists chemicals, temperature changes and physical wear. However, in our Russian frosts, a cable with a TPE braid becomes tanned, just like regular rubber. I can’t say anything about counteracting sweat (in the summer or in the gym, that is, during training) - you need heat and a fairly long period of time for the test.
The control panel has received a radical change in appearance. And rightly so!
The buttons have become larger and much more visible when used blindly.
In the previous model, you always had to first feel the entire remote control, project in your head where which button was located, and only then press the right one. Here the process of switching tracks and volume will happen much faster. Hooray!
The plug remains unchanged. Gold-plated, straight, four-pin - everything is as it should be.
Is available for sale
