Truthear HOLA IEMs + SHIO Portable DAC/Amplifier

[VSG]

Truthear comes back with a 1-2 punch to the rest of the audio industry courtesy its take on the budget IEM space with the impressive $19 HOLA in addition to joining the portable DAC/amp market with the SHIO. The HOLA is a single DD set that is tuned better than many more expensive IEMs and the SHIO reminds me of a popular ~$200 product to where you certainly need to read this entire review!

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[SOAREVERSOR]

For the price both are amazing. I won't dunk on the short comings of a sub 20 or even sub 50 IEM when it's good for what you get, and this is that. About that DAC though....

I know you (VSG) like it and there is a like, but comparing it to the Moonriver 2 is a bit odd. It's almost the same sure, yet in some aspects it's very much not the same. That higher power output does matter as there are multiple IEMs (which is really what portable items are going for) that do need it. You can also get into the odd issue that some cables work better with higher powered devices and that's not "made by elves in the moonlight" woo woo. IMHO the higher power justifies the price in the Moonriver 2 right there. But I realize this is a "what gear do you have" item and while Truthear's products impress they aren't playing in the higher end game, yet.

For me that glued on pleather is a deal breaker. It's cheap. Not just that it's cheaap looking, it's going to break down quick those things never last. They also screw with the thermals of a device. If they want to go this route include it as a sleeve! That protects the actual device and also offers up the choice not to use it and you can replace the damn thing when it does break down. Deal breaker for most, no, but I wouldn't bother with it.

I love detachable cables! But at the price point a replacement cable might cost more than the entire package. I'd still do it as I don't like waste, and it's great to have, but here it's sort of a meh and I don't think going out and slapping a 40-200 buck cable is going to make a lick of difference at this price point. FWIW I got the Quarks for my niece and tossed in some Spring Tips I had sitting about and she loves them. She's also very much into the IEM game and loves all the silly anime girls on the boxes that make me cringe.

Bonus points for it being all in black and not blingly. I know that's a visual aspect and not everyone is going to agree but when I got my custom JH Audios I went out of my way not to get the color vomit package and the all back upgraded cable. My SO, ehhhh well she went with the color vomit and then went straight back to her air pods pro and max because wireless and looks cool. Which sort of makes me grumble as there's a 2500 dac and amp combo on her desk with a pair of focals but oh well!

 

[VSG]

I am not sure there are any IEMs (ones that run off a 4.4 mm output anyway) which can't be easily driven by this. Of course the MoonRiver 2 has more power but is it actually necessary? Good points all though!

 

[GreiverBlade]

For the price both are amazing

no joke ... my FH1s + KA1 did cost me 161chf together which i considere quite cheap, given the performances i get from them.
the IEMs don't have a BA but at that price: not a problem they are 1/4th of the price of the FH1s and the shells look quite great
(with the FH1s let say the inside and cable are top notch and the "compromise" point is the shell)
the DAC/AMP is similarly priced but sports 2 Cirrus Logic CS43198 and has a 4.4 Bal.

but the point you mention are indeed, short comings/dealbreaker tho


nonetheless for 80ish $ aka: just 5$/chf less than the FH1s, i would do like alice and follow a white rabbit ...
yes... i like the box ... (both of them...)

as usual, thanks for the review

waiting on the TangZu quicklook... i would love to go Patreon gold for TPU tho, just for that one (and to support the site ofc ... ) ... not expensive but for now my Paypal and my Mastercard are kinda locked ... have to wait a bit

 

[VSG]

no joke ... my FH1s + KA1 did cost me 161chf together which i considere quite cheap, given the performances i get from them.
the IEMs don't have a BA but at that price: not a problem they are 1/4th of the price of the FH1s and the shells look quite great
(with the FH1s let say the inside and cable are top notch and the "compromise" point is the shell)
the DAC/AMP is similarly priced but sports 2 Cirrus Logic CS43198 and has a 4.4 Bal.

but the point you mention are indeed, short comings/dealbreaker tho


nonetheless for 80ish $ aka: just 5$/chf less than the FH1s, i would do like alice and follow a white rabbit ...
yes... i like the box ... (both of them...)

as usual, thanks for the review

waiting on the TangZu quicklook... i would love to go Patreon gold for TPU tho, just for that one (and to support the site ofc ... ) ... not expensive but for now my Paypal and my Mastercard are kinda locked ... have to wait a bit

I am sure @W1zzard would appreciate another patron to help support TPU

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I am not sure there are any IEMs (ones that run off a 4.4 mm output anyway) which can't be easily driven by this. Of course the MoonRiver 2 has more power but is it actually necessary? Good points all though!

Going to have to call you out here but that's bullshit. There is "can drive it" and then there's "it sounds good" and these are not the same. There's a reason they paired this with a sub 20 unit. You've got a fleet of IEMs try it with something having four+ drivers or something like an etymotic which in many cases requires desktop class stuff to show it's wings. There's a sort of nebulous good enough area which gets curb stomped once you cross into the overkill area on these things.

The catch is exactly what you said, is it actually necessary? It's not, until it is. That's why I stated "what do you have" because that is the kicker. It's often not. Hell the best reviewed portable god DAC is the MOJO and it doesn't even bother with balanced and it doesn't need to. Just as the lack of power here is good for most things, and really the people who have things it can't handled aren't going to look at it anyways, so all good! I'd offer up the ifi diablo or earman angel as counters. These are items that have shit for features, shit for useability, are stupid, but manage to win out just by screaming "I HAVE THE POWAH" and going with that. Is it needed, most often no these are stupid products, does it do what it claims, oh hells yeah!

To get back to the juice of this you put this up vs the Moondrop River 2. Which yeah costs 3x the price. But it can driver harder IEMs and those do exist, and it will drive most reasonable IEMs better. It's also not suffering from a glued on pleather and uses the case as a heatsink, ships with a better cable, and is smaller. It's not my "best dongle dac thing ever" award I'm sticking with the Questyle M15 for the best, just buy it, don't ask, go, move on option. I'll stand by the MOJO for if you don't care about size or faffing about this is what you want, and the diablo as the just nuke it option.

IMHO fuck about with the ER4 series as these are things that are not the same and play out very differently where one option sings when is hit by atom bomb level amps and the other flakes out. It's odd, but it's FUN. and FUN is what this is all about.

 

[GreiverBlade]

i think the Shio is punching over his price point given the hardware in it ...

and i do not doubt it would best the KA1 i have ... although the pleather is kinda a ... well, not much liking it ... i prefer full metal that can act like a heatsink, the KA1 can get a little hot playing lossless
but i like the detachable cable and since i doubt i would see Truthear locally ... my other option would be selling the KA1 and getting either a Fiio KA3 or a Shanling UA2 (103 and 120chf respectively ... )

ah, no, next is a desktop DAC/AMP for the computer (or semi portable like the E10K-TC, New K3) i should stick to that, as i am not disappointed by my KA1 for now

i know, i am vain ... for wanting these two, even if just for the boxes (half joke )

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

i think the Shio is punching over his price point given the hardware in it ...

and i do not doubt it would best the KA1 i have ... although the pleather is kinda a ... well, not much liking it ... i prefer full metal that can act like a heatsink, the KA1 can get a little hot playing lossless
but i like the detachable cable and since i doubt i would see Truthear locally ... my other option would be selling the KA1 and getting either a Fiio KA3 or a Shanling UA2 (103 and 120chf respectively ... )

ah, no, next is a desktop DAC/AMP for the computer (or semi portable like the E10K-TC, New K3) i should stick to that, as i am not disappointed by my KA1 for now

i know, i am vain ... for wanting these two, even if just for the boxes (half joke )

Truthear is fairly easy to grab online. I'd never heard of them and then they cranked out that dual dynamic and now that stupid rabbit eared half hentai waifu child is all over the damn place.

The Shio is punching well above it's weight and into the around 200 buck range. Really when you look at the package you get with Truthears stuff it seems it should flat out cost double in most cases, often more. I get that the lack the name to ask for that, for now, but it's all a great value. But if you look at some of the stuff it's obvious they are directly aping the Moonriver 2 with the Shio, then cutting some corners (hence the power and the larger pleather coated case) and throwing it out at 1/3 the cost. They pulled the same stunt taking on the Blessing 2. Which, you could pick worse IEMs and DACs to use a base to target.

Given the lower power IMHO drop the balanced, keep the single ended, ditch the pleather and give a metal case. Keep the price the same or drop it. Honestly balanced doesn't really matter for IEMs with short run cables. And nobody with quality IEMs that might want it is looking at a 70 buck item. Or keep it all the same and ditch the god damn fucking pleather. Hell the Moonriver 2 justifies the price hike over this just but not having glued on pleather! Why? You look at this with that Jack Nicholson "yes yes yes" face meme and then... pleather, que wet fart sound and sad trombone. Womp Womp.

 

[teamtd11]

Ordered the HOLA IEMs. Plan to grab the SHIO in a few months when I can afford it.