Introduction

Most people reading this article may not have heard of Leiyin Audio, however it is one of the largest retailers for personal audio in China. It started in 2006 in Shenzhen, and established channel sales and marketing throughout the entire country, as well as in the neighboring ones, over the next two years. In 2012, it created SHENZHENAUDIO, a global e-commerce platform that has provided me with a lot of review samples over the years. As of 2020, Leiyin Audio is ranked #1 in the country for number of audio sales, especially in the high-end sector. Knowing how big the Chinese market is, it is probably safe to assume this puts the company among the top sellers globally too. In fact, we've recently even seen Leiyin Audio participate in international shows such as CES, although there is one show in particular that it is most known for.


Leiyin Audio started the Shenzhen International Audio Show in 2007, just one year after the company itself was created. It's clearly been successful to warrant an annual presence, with 2024 hosting the 18th edition of the show. I was invited to attend the show last year, although timing wasn't great with my own travel plans elsewhere, and this year Leiyin Audio, via its SHENZHENAUDIO brand, upped the ante in inviting several international reviewers and influencers to join the nearly 100 domestic influencers, the over 200 participating brands, and an estimated attendance in the thousands over the three days this event is held. SHENZHENAUDIO reimbursed my travel expenses and arranged for accommodation in the city, but all they wanted was for me to attend the show and have a good time. Having been to multiple CES and Computex shows before, as well as a few audio-specific shows such as CanJam London, I thought I knew what to expect. Clearly things are taken to a different level altogether in China, and I figured I should explain how via a show report. I will also say right away that show impressions are best taken with a grain of salt, and thus I'm deliberately keeping them short.

Press Conferences

The show was held September 20-22, although the first morning was private for media only. We were chaperoned from the hotel to the venue in Upperhills Shenzhen, which seemed huge—when empty of attendees anyway. There was a dedicated stage which hosted press conferences in the morning and was used for other events thereafter, including lottery draws and cosplayer shows. Given this was really the first time this show has seen international media participating, there were some growing pains felt almost immediately. For one, all the press conferences were completely in Chinese (Mandarin) without any translations. Our points-of-contact at SHENZHENAUDIO did their best to do live translation over the WeChat group we were in, but suffice to say this could be done better going forward. I did provide some ideas for improvement and streamlining things further, so let's see how things go next year.

DUNU

First up was DUNU, which I then learned stood for Delicate, Unique & (n') Utmost... okay then! DUNU had three new products announced at the show, including the DK 3001 BD (Brain Dance, from the Cyberpunk 2077 tech) in-ear monitors. These use a 1 DD/4 BA/4 micro planar magnetic tribrid driver configuration, white shells in a cyberpunk-inspired aesthetic, a white cable to go with it, and offered a bass-first tuning with forward upper mids and generally relaxed treble. Then came DUNU's first entry to the over-ear headphones market with the planar magnetic, open-back Arashi. It's built like a tank, looks and feels great in the hands, and goes for a neutral-bright tonality that should appeal to many no doubt. It was paired with the v53 amplifier, created in collaboration with NiuNiu Audio (v being "niu" in the green alphabet and 53 for Beethoven's Waldstein—the Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53). The amplifier is excellent in its own right, although impossible to test at the show given the less-than-ideal conditions for an open-back set. DUNU rounded off its talk with a concept, the Concept R CD Player with a "retro meets future" design language. It's still being worked upon, but was a sign of things to come at the show.