Closer Examination

The included cable would not be out of place paired with a more expensive set of IEMs, making for another testament to the DUNU philosophy of going the extra mile with everything in the box. Zoom in and you will notice that the four-braided cable uses a mix of high-purity copper and silver-plated copper for the conductor, and it starts with a 90° angled 3.5 mm TRS connector going to your source. There is no modular plug support on this more budget-friendly model, but I was not expecting one either given those cables tend to cost north of $50 by themselves. The housings are plastic with accent rings for aesthetics, including on the Y-splitter with the DUNU logo. The cable cinch is also one of the more practical ones I've seen recently, holding the two split cables in place before they get to the inevitable memory wire formation with the plastic sheathing on top. We saw before how DUNU uses 0.78 mm 2-pin connectors instead of the MMCX ones on the FALCON PRO and ZEN PRO, and all the connectors come gold-plated for oxidation resistance. What's interesting is the shape of the housing, with a trapezoid nature that adds a support point while also going into the recessed connectors on the IEM shells themselves. Overall, this is a cable that doesn't kink or resist reshaping, nor is it microphonic, which is really all I could ask for in a cable.


Through a series of events, I had in my possession two separate sets of the DUNU TITAN S for a while. Seen on the right half above is the first set, a pre-production model. It came with a set of ear tips that did not do the TITAN S any favors. They sealed poorly and affected the bass response to where the upper mids and treble came off artificially high in an unpleasant manner. Thankfully, DUNU acknowledged as much, and those tips never made it into the retail packaging. This certainly helps since there are some extremely competitive IEMs the TITAN S has to go up against, not the least of which would be the popular MOONDROP Aria (2021), which has been somewhat marred by more instances of a poorly applied paint job on the shells than I'd like to see since that review went up. It's a good thing then that DUNU has gone with an extensive zinc alloy shell given a hard anodized finish that is a warm gray or brown depending on incident light—no chance of any finish flaking off, especially with the hardened brushed finish.


We now get a closer look at the IEMs, including the cyberpunk-inspired design language that makes for a fairly unique form factor. The TITAN S isn't a traditional semi-custom fit for ergonomics, but don't let that fool you since it's still about average in size and comfortable for most. On the face plate, if you will, lies an insert that makes it appear to be a large vent. However, this is more to fit the theme; the actual vent for airflow is so small that this is not a semi-open IEM after all. The angular form factor with layers galore works well with the subtle branding, as well as the cutout on the side where the recessed 2-pin connectors are found. There is a screw that also appears to be more for aesthetics than anything else, or perhaps it was used prior to the two shell sections being glued together, since it spins freely with a matching screwdriver without coming loose. Removing the pre-installed ear tips shows a relatively long ~5.5 mm nozzle with multiple sections of varying diameter and a taper at the end, which has a filter to prevent contaminants from entering the acoustic chamber. The IEMs come with either an "L" or "R" marking for their respective channel.


Fitting the ear tips is on the easier side because of the tapered nozzle, which is also of average size relative to the provided tips. Seen above are the included Size M silicone tips, and note how the notches on the nozzle further secure them in place. The three different types vary in overall ear-tip length, but try them all out to see what works best for you. Having different sizes available helps with a good fit, and do not feel as though both ears necessarily need the same-sized ear tips, either. Regardless of which tips you go with, the next step is to re-connect the cable by carefully pushing the connectors in place, which are then held there by friction alone. The 3.5 mm TRS connector then goes to your source. I know there are many who prefer to use IEMs throughout, but I like to use over-ear headphones when sitting down and IEMs/TWS earbuds on the go. I paired the TITAN S with all the tested portable DAC/amps to date and personally like the cleaner profile and handy EQ options of the Qudelix-5K as the source, in turn paired to my phone or laptop.