Fit and Comfort

Seen above is the right channel of the DUNU TITAN S installed into an artificial ear mold, and I am using the size M red bore silicone ear tips that come pre-installed on the IEMs. This was my preferred set for testing and use too, and illustrates the achievable fit with these IEMs. Indeed, I have average-sized ears, and the ear mold above represents my own experiences well enough as a proxy. The uncommon design with a more horizontal approach as opposed to a vertical one means that those with a narrow concha might well struggle to fit the TITAN S. As such, account for this before making your purchase. The TITAN S was extremely comfortable for me, and probably will be for most people with even medium-sized ears, let alone larger ones. It snugly nestles into the concha, and all contact surfaces are smooth enough despite the aesthetics, as there to be no sharp pressure points anywhere. The angled receptacle for the cable also works very well, directing the cable over the ear and behind it without awkwardly digging in or coming loose anywhere. The single vent makes for good passive isolation, at least relative to such semi-open IEMs as the DUNU FALCON PRO and FiiO FD3, and the relatively average weight of just over 7 g each also allows for long hours of use without physical fatigue.

Audio Performance

Audio Hardware

Okay, that's more of a glamor shot of the driver than anything else, but it's the only one available online and does the job by showing that as with the FALCON PRO and ZEN PRO we saw from DUNU before, the TITAN S uses a single dynamic driver. This is not an ECLIPSƎ driver, however, and simpler in that the diaphragm material and coating, or even the magnets and surround, are not the product of a lot of expensive R&D. At the same time, the use of a liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) diagphragm has been becoming popular as off late, especially in the $100 range. TinHiFi has a similarly priced IEM that came out recently too, and I have it here for those interested. The TITAN S uses a 11 mm LCP diaphragm paired with a copper-clad aluminium wire (CCAW) voice coil and neodymium N52 magnets that should be capable of relatively high magnetic flux to drive the diaphragm back and forth.

Clearly not as much as ECLIPSƎ, though, with the TITAN S hardware being slightly harder than average for IEMs with a rated 32 Ω impedance at 1 kHz, but helping out is a higher sensitivity of 110 dB, which I presume is 110 dB/mW, once again at 1 kHz. In practice, it is still plenty fine with mobile devices, and a portable DAC/amp will suit your needs perfectly for when you find yourself without an available 3.5 mm audio jack on the go. A better source and a DAP may be considerations, useful in avoiding potential hissing and clipping with some sensitive IEMs, which these are not. If not using them on the go, the shorter cable included with IEMs might be a potential handicap when connecting to a PC as the audio source, so a cable upgrade may make sense.

Frequency Measurement and Listening

I will mention that I have a general preference for a warm-neutral signature emphasizing a slightly elevated bass and smooth treble range with detailed mids and good tonal separation. I also generally prefer instrumental music over vocals, with favored genres including jazz and classical music.


Our reproducible testing methodology begins with a calibrated IEC711 audio coupler/artificial ear IEMs can feed into enough for decent isolation. The audio coupler feeds into a USB sound card, which in turn goes to a laptop that has ARTA and REW running and the earphones connected to the laptop through the sound card. I begin with an impulse measurement to test for signal fidelity, calibrate the sound card and channel output, account for floor noise, and finally test the frequency response of each channel separately. Octave smoothing is at the 1/12th setting, which nets a good balance of detail and noise not being identified as useful data. Also, the default tuning was used for testing, and no app-based settings were chosen unless specifically mentioned. Each sample of interest is tested thrice with separate mounts to account for any fit issues, and an average is taken of the three individual measurements for statistical accuracy. For IEMs, I am also using the appropriate ear mold fitted to the audio coupler for a separate test to compare how the IEMs fare when installed in a pinna geometry and not just the audio coupler. The raw data is then exported from REW and plotted in OriginPro for easier comparison.


The IEC711 is such that you can't really compare these results with most other test setups, especially those using a head and torso simulator (HATS). The raw dB numbers are also quite contingent on the set volume, gain levels, and sensitivity of the system. What is more useful information is how the left and right channels work across the rated frequency response in the DUNU TITAN S, or at least the useful part. The left channel was separately tested from the right one, and colored differently for contrast. I did my best to ensure an identical fit for both inside the IEC711 orifice, so note how the two channels are basically identical across the entire frequency response! In fact, it is only past the coupler resonance at ~8 kHz that small deviations appear, and those are to be taken with a grain of salt anyway. In practice, I did not hear any channel imbalance when listening to the TITAN S, and the same can be said of the pre-production sample, too. Measurements taken after 30 hours of testing, including with these playing a mix of various songs as well as white or pink noise and sine sweeps, showed no difference. There was no perceived burn-in effect thus, and none was measurable, either. The response with the artificial pinna in place matches the ideal scenario in the coupler extremely well, so much so that it's an indicator of how good the seal was when installed in the pinna simulator.


This is the average frequency response for both channels of the DUNU TITAN S plotted against my personal target taken from VSG.squig.link, which also gives you an idea of my personal preferences to better correlate any possible biases. The tuning of a set of headphones or earphones does not have to match my target as long as it is tuned with some direction, makes sense, and is executed well. After all, no one set will appeal to everyone, and having different options is what makes this hobby so interesting and hard to quantify. With the TITAN S, DUNU has done just that by avoiding the completely analytical or bass-boosted tuning used by many others. The neutral-bright tuning instead makes the TITAN S an attractive set if you like the music genres I also prefer.

Assuming the red core ear tips are bass-optimized, those coming pre-installed on the TITAN S for more balance to the overall sound signature makes sense. I did try the other sets, but could not distinguish a tangible enough difference without fit and seal as a variable. It's more that the red core tips make it easier, and this is why I am recommending these with the TITAN S. Take the bass response, for example, with a ~6 dB boost in the sub-bass at ~3–40 Hz compared to the lowest SPL in the mids. Not a basshead IEM necessarily, I appreciate the bass quality more than the quantity anyway. Extension in the lows is also well-done; don't let the slight dip in the frequency response fool you. I also had to remind myself that this is a budget-friendly set since I still found the technical aspects plenty adequate. But it's when you A/B test with other IEMs released recently in the ~$200 price range that the TITAN S comes off wanting. This is not a fast set, with even the FALCON PRO that is more mid-bass optimized hitting harder with bass guitars and drums, and even house or electronic music.

The TITAN S is not a set I'd necessarily recommend for fans of rock music either, but male vocals come off forward-facing enough to appeal there. The single driver without any crossover in place results in a smooth transition from the lows to the mids, whereby this allows for enough range for instruments to shine, especially when it again comes to drums, guitars, and even organs if you are a fan of choir music. This is also where I found imaging to be very good for what it is, even if the associated soundstage is smaller compared to the IEMs I have tested. The TITAN S protrudes inward and produces a more concentrated sound, and a deeper fit would have had the resonance peak closer to 9 kHz instead. All this is a roundabout way of saying that it's upper mids and treble focused, with the likes of jazz and pop having good synergy, especially K-pop and J-pop. Female vocals can come off bright, however, although proponents of the diffuse field target would find them slightly nasal instead.

The treble response is what convinced me that the TITAN S is not just an aggressive aesthetic targeting a more mainstream audience, whereby it would be more bass-boosted. It's well-extended while being smooth, and this extension also plays a role in the TITAN S coming off more detailed than it really is in this region. It's also not very fatiguing with smoother dips and peaks, although the 12.5 kHz air does feel inflated without much substance behind it. If I had to nitpick, it would be the pinna gain compensation peak being broader than I feel it needs to be, and some string instruments and piano keys feel overly bright. Orchestral music would be better served with some EQ in this region thus, but it's still a set I'd use for such music.

Comparisons

The -$100 market is an extremely exciting time for IEMs today, and the DUNU TITAN S is an overall worthy addition compared to the choice few entries we have. Seen above is the TITAN S compared to a few others in this price range we have covered before, including the MOONDROP Aria (2021), the Tripowin x HBB Olina, and ThieAudio Legacy 2, with a few others also worthy of consideration, including the yet-to-be-covered TinHiFi T3 Plus and the FiiO FD3. I'll go as far as to say that DUNU is directly targeting the MOONDROP Aria with the TITAN S in terms of market share, and comes at the same price point, too. The Aria is more balanced in tuning, and it's effectively a wash when it comes to the technical performance. But the better accessories and build quality of the TITAN S is why I would personally go this route, especially as I do like a brighter set anyway. When it comes to the other two, the ThieAudio Legacy 2 is a bassier set that ultimately falls short of expectations given it costs more and the mids and treble response could be better. The Tripowin Olina is a dark horse in that there are easy filter mods that alleviate the peaky treble response, allowing the otherwise excellent bass to follow through well, and it is on par with the TITAN S for other non-sound related aspects too. It also costs more than the TITAN S though, and there remain some doubts on whether the Olina has overcome the condensation-related issues that plagued the Tripowin Mele from before.