7Hz x Crinacle Salnotes Dioko

Most sources call the low end lean: a sub-bass shelf with little mid-bass body, fast and clean but short on slam, weight and decay. A minority — mostly listeners who wanted a planar without the usual bass bloat — like exactly that politeness. Nobody calls it a bass-forward set.

“There isn’t much slam, and the kick and floor tom of the drums lack a sense of depth beyond the initial impact.”

Fc-Construct, headphones.com

“It’s got satisfying planar driver speed but it often feels watered down and lacks impact.”

Prime Audio Reviews (David Becker)

“Personally I am a fan of the whole low end of the Dioko, at least as far as tuning goes, but I can see others wanting a little more warmth in these lower ranges.”

Acho Reviews (SenyorC)

Sources split, but not evenly: the great majority call the midrange the Dioko’s best quality — clean, uncoloured, natural, with vocals that are clear without shout — while a smaller group hears the same lean lower midrange as thin, hollow or radio-like, especially on male vocals.

Sources split almost down the middle. One camp hears well-extended, airy treble with no sibilance; the other hears sharp peaks, sizzle and a glassy or metallic sheen that fatigues and demands EQ. Part of the split is the wrong-filter batch, but plenty of correct-filter units — including Resolve’s and Fc-Construct’s — still landed in the sharp camp.

Sources split: a large majority call the balance neutral, clean and mature — Crinacle’s neutral-with-sub-bass done properly for the first time on a planar — while a substantial minority hear it as lean, bright and strident, an IEM they would only run with EQ. Early wrong-filter units account for some but not all of the second camp.

Wide but flat is the recurring description: good left-to-right spread and spacing, limited depth and height, and no holographic or out-of-head quality. A few call it intimate, one or two call it the best at the price.

“Staging is decent. There is good horizontal width, imaging, and instrument separation. Height and depth are limited, as typical of IEMs.”

Fc-Construct, headphones.com

“The soundstage is wide and has good spacing but a limited amount of depth.”

Prime Audio Reviews (David Becker)

Placement and separation are praised almost across the board — pinpoint enough for gaming footsteps, and cleaner than the Timeless per several comparisons — with only a couple of voices calling it merely average or typical planar-blurry.

“Imaging is very good, and instrument separation is excellent.”

darmanastartes (Bedrock Reviews), Head-Fi showcase review

“Instrument separation and imaging are well above average, which again, is a common theme with planar drivers.”

McCullough Audio

Sources split, but lopsidedly: nearly everyone calls resolution and micro-detail the Dioko’s trump card — best in class at $99 and close to the Timeless and S12 — while a few listeners, including one measurement-minded reviewer, hear it as less detailed than the S12 or as detail without musical nuance.

Mostly criticised: compressed, limp, soft in the slam — the flat mid-bass and planar speed together read as a lack of punch and weight. A few praise the transient snap and speed as the star of the show.

“Dynamics are a little compressed as noted with my nitpicks in the bass.”

Fc-Construct, headphones.com

“If I had any issues with the Dioko’s sound, it would be with low-level detail and dynamics.”

Hifitrends (Paul Cash)

“bass lacks extension and overall I think there's a lack of Dynamics on this”

cheapaudioman (Randy), via YouTube transcript

Sources split on the big oval shell: for most ears it sits comfortably for hours despite its size, but the nozzle is short and the insertion shallow, so seal and fit security are poor for a meaningful minority who had to tip-roll extensively, upsize tips, or gave up. Small ears are warned off by several reviewers.

Sources split along a time line. Every reviewer at launch called the metal shell, sapphire glass, braided cable and enormous case premium beyond the price. Owners a year or more in report units going quiet on one side, cracked faceplates, a failed grille adhesive and loose 2-pin sockets — and the wrong-filter batch itself was a quality-control failure the maker acknowledged.

Sources split — above average or excellent for some, quite poor for others — and the split tracks fit: the reviewers who could not keep the shallow shell sealed are the ones who report poor isolation.

Sources split, four to one: the majority — including the reviewers who measured it — call it an easy recommendation and the best technical performance anywhere near $99; a persistent minority, from the first Reddit unboxings to a 2026 ‘regret’ thread, say the tuning wastes the driver and they wish they had bought the S12, Timeless or Aria instead.