Hidizs ST2 Pro Nebula Review
Intro
Hello, this review and feature covers the Hidizs ST2 Pro Nebula (ST2P for review purposes) from the audio brand Hidizs Audio. Hidizs is a brand who are usually somewhere around the front lines of innovation and this new budget DSP cable and earphones certainly promises a large uptick in fidelity in a very portable and mobile form. Now, the ST2P is actually a Kickstarter project which debuts on December 19th, 2024, and so it will be very good to get your order in when deadlines allow. One thing I notice about most Hidizs products is that they usually improve upon different tech that’s already on the market, and they usually do so at a competitive cost for the consumer. The ST2P seems primed to be one of those products. Made entirely for those who don’t have the funds to purchase some top-of-the-line dongle dac, dap, dac/amp etc. or for those who want a very portable and convenient way to listen to high resolution music.
Hidizs
Ya know, I’ve spent a great deal of time with Hidizs products over the years. Coincidentally, I’ve also spent a lot of money on some of those products (relatively speaking). One thing I take away from those products is that Hidizs does what it takes to stay relevant, and they do that by crafting with quality and pricing in mind. I’ve performed quite a few reviews covering this brand and I can tell you that I’ve yet to run into a bad product. This is a brand which doesn’t shy away from some heavy R&D and usually brings to market devices which are complete and ready for the market. This is no small thing. Too often products are rushed to market and the end result shows. At any rate, I am very curious about this latest ST2 Pro Nebula.
DSP cables
As I said, Hidizs is usually at the forefront of new tech or at least at the starting line with most technology. It appears that Hidizs realized that they needed to get in on the DSP cable bandwagon as they are certainly not the 1st brand who brought one to market. In fact, by now there have been quite a few brands who have dipped their toes into this portable form of audio. I would say that the idea of DSP cables was birthed “post” the exclusion of 3.5 single ended ports in smartphones (what a terrible day for so many audio fans) in favor of Bluetooth devices. Which of course left those fans of wired audio in the dark. Obviously, Samsung and Apple had a remedy as they began providing earphones with DSP cables with all of their devices. However, the rest of the purchasing public was forced to either go the popular Bluetooth route, or purchase a dap (digital audio player), dac/amp, or dongle dac. Of course, they could always go with an older phone, which has issues of its own. It was a dilemma of sorts. At any rate, it wasn’t long until you began seeing more and more DSP chipped cables hit the market. In truth, they’ve gotten pretty darn good folks. As the hobby does, it adapts, and it overcomes. I must admit that DSP cables aren’t my first choice as an audio source, but I cannot sit here and lie and say that I’m not completely impressed by what a tiny dac/amp inside of a tiny usb-c housing can afford the listener. Good sound is good sound, no matter where you are getting it from.
Ready
That all said, I am 100% ready to check out the ST2 Pro Nebula. Both the earphones as well as the cable that comes with it. In a way this is a two-part review as both the earphones and the cable each combine to form the package. I should also state that Hidizs did provide to me an extra MMCX cable which I will also feature in this review. So, without further ado, the Hidizs ST2 Pro Nebula everyone…
Check out some of my other Hidizs Reviews:
–MS5
–MS3
–SD2
Non-Affiliated Purchasing Links:
–Kickstarter Link (Super Early Bird: $39) Beginning December 19th
Disclaimer:
I received the Hidizs ST2 Pro Nebula from Hidizs as a review sample and in exchange I will conduct a full review and feature at Mobileaudiophile.com. I have not received any payment or any other form of compensation for this review. This set is a review sample iem. Hidizs has not requested to pre-read any review and doesn’t have any control over “what” or “when” anything gets published to mobileaudiophile.com. All thoughts within this review are my own, though please take note that I will always have my own biases. This is impossible to get around. I try to be as objective as my subjective self can be, but this is an opinion piece folks. Thank you to Hidizs and thanks for reading.
ST2P Pros
-Great pouch
-Very portable, easy to manage when out and about
-8xMQA, Native 128DSD, 32bit/384khz
-ES9281AC Pro dac chip is great to see in a device like this
-70mW of power is way more than enough for most iems
-The cable is really great with most earphones I pair it with
-Just a nice cable altogether
-Fun sound out of the earphones. With or without the cable
-Deep, hard-hitting bass
-Sparkly treble
-Detail Retrieval
-Imaging
ST2P Cons
-The treble can come across a bit artificial sounding
-Earphone build isn’t the best we’ve seen
-Stock eartips do not do this set justice
-Other 2-pin sets feel ever-so-slightly looser than normal
Gear used for testing
-Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
-LG V60
-Too many iems to name here
Packaging / Accessories
Unboxing
The Hidizs ST2 Pro Nebula arrived at my home in a small black box that features a picture of the ST2P on the front cover. You get the ESS logo, DSD, MQA, and the Hi-Res Audio logo as well. All indicators of the pedigree of this set. On the back are some specs etc. Once you open the box, you’ll see the ST2P staring right back at you in all of their splendor chilling inside of cardboard/foam cutouts. Pull that layer off and you will see the very nice leather pouch which comes packaged along with the 2-pin type-c cable, the eartips, as well as a usb-a to usb-c adapter and the manual/warranty card. Of course, there really isn’t much more to report as one would expect for this type of product. However, it’s not a bad package by any means.
Eartips
Hidizs added to the accessory haul three sets of eartips (S, M, L). The eartips are a white silicone tip with a semi-narrow bore, flimsy flange, and semi-rigid stem. Now, this is one very small point of contention for me as I really feel that the eartips provided do not do the ST2P justice at all. Not that they are bad tips per se, but they simply don’t provide me with the best seal and if I’m being honest, they don’t provide the ST2P with the best sonics. Again, not horrible tips but for me they just didn’t work. Of course, this is an issue with 85% of earphones that I receive. For whatever reason eartips are more of an afterthought anymore whereas they should be a well thought out and important piece of the audio chain. No doubt about it. At any rate, I went with some no name tips which resemble the KBear 07’s in every way except the color. They are semi-wide bore tips, firm flange, firm stem, and they really do seal well. Basically, they’re KBear 07’s, so if you are wondering what is best to use, I would advise to at least start with a set similar to these. I also used a set of Final Audio E-Tips as well that sounded great but the comfort from the 07 clones was too good to pass up.
Pouch
One of the bright spots of the unboxing is the leather pouch that comes with it. I rarely use carrying cases, but I’m a sucker for a good leather pouch and this one is quite great. Actually, this is the same leather pouch that we’ve seen packaged with a few other Hidizs sets. Like the MS3, MP145 & MP143. I liked this pouch in those reviews, and I like it now. Really, it’s a perfect size for my front pocket and that is the most important thing for me. I realize I’m speaking on a pouch right now and very few of you care but it’s the little things for this reviewer. I love a good pouch. At any rate, the leather is so soft that it’s almost satisfying for me just to hold the thing. It also has a pinch-open and snap-close top with two small strips of sheet metal. I don’t really have anything more to say about it. It’s just a nice accessory.
DSP Cable
Build Quality
The cable provided with the ST2P is a very fine and highly capable blue/black cable. To be exact it is a 2-pin high purity OFC (oxygen-free copper) copper cable with a fabric outer insulation coming in a nice twist pattern and a type-c termination. It is a 4-wire 260-core cable. Not very thick, very pliable, easy to use, not microphonic. Physically it is extremely flexible and not rigid in the least. This cable won’t add any extra weight to your ears or pull on your earphones, at all. Now, Hidizs provided me with both the 2-pin that comes with the ST2 Pro Nebula package as well as an additional mmcx cable (gray cable in pictures) which is the exact cable to be used with other iems. The cable which came with the ST2P is a blue/black colored cable and the look is flat out cool. Hidizs did a nice job selecting the materials used. Of course, these cables are DSP (digital signal processor) type-c cables to be used with any type c Android, Windows, Mac OS, IOS, or Harmony devices. However, I’ll get into that in a bit. The cables also have a working mic with a multifunction button controller. The actual build is impressive enough. Certainly, better than any other DSP cables that I have on hand.
Only issue
The only partial downside to the cable is the fact that some 2-pin iems feel somewhat not as tight as they ought to. I’m not saying they are loose or falling off, but they simply aren’t as tight as one would expect all the time. I don’t feel this is a hard “con”, but I did list it in my “Pros & Cons” at the beginning of this review. Again, I have yet to have any issues with it and never once in the entire time I’ve used this cable has an iem fallen off, but it is something to simply mention, for full disclosure.
Cable Features
One cool thing about DSP cables is the fact that they come with a digital signal processor or a dac chip which enables them to be able to process the signal ultimately providing the listener with a cool and portable way to listen to their music. Having said that, these DSP cables are most certainly not created equal. Just like any source device which uses different dac chips and circuitry, so do these cables. In the case of the ST2P, Hidizs decided upon an actual very high quality dac chip which was somewhat surprising to me when I first found out. That chip is actually the ES9281AC Pro which is one of the better small devices dac chips, better than middle of the road and not one you’d usually find in a cable like this. Well, at least I haven’t seen any with this particular chip inside. I fact, this chip is used inside of some amazing dongle dacs like the Questyle M15 and the Earmen Colibri, for example. Basically, it is a very high quality usb SOC style chip and I’m very glad to see it implemented within the ST2P cables. You will at least know that you are getting a chip capable of hi-res audio made by some of the best in the business.
Driving power
One great thing to see inside of a cable like this is the ability to swap earphones. However, not every earphone is as sensitive as others. There are some slightly harder to drive sets which require a bit more amplitude to bring them to proper fidelity. So, how nice it was to see that the ST2P has a max output power (driving power) of 70mW at 32 ohms. For those who don’t know, this is much higher than you usually see with these cables. Furthermore, every single iem that I placed on these cables was easily driven to not just good volume, but also to good dynamics, good dynamic range, tight transients in respect to how they usually sound etc. Maybe some planars will want more juice but most sets are driven very well with this cable. That said, I have a few planars which sounded great on the ST2P cable. Obviously, planars have a seething need for huge amping but even the Hidizs MP143 was able to be driven pretty well. The Letshuoer S12 Pro as well, Kiwi Ears Melody, KZ PRX, Raptgo Hook-X, and many more. I don’t want this to get out of hand because a better source will obviously do better. Still, for a cable of this type to be able to give really nice fidelity is a sweet thing.
Additional Features
Another capability of the ES9281AC Pro is that you can get a whopping 8x MQA unfolding which is nice for those who have MQA tracks. You can get up to DSD 128 as well. Folks, you simply cannot get this kind of audio luxury from DSP cables all the time. Beyond MQA and DSD the ST2P cable can decode sample rates up to 32bit/384khz PCM. It also has an inbuilt microphone which is actually quite good by the way. Very natural sounding for a microphone such as this. The cable connector also has a red and blue sample rate indicator which will tell you when you are playing 44.1-48 kHz PCM, 32-384 kHz, and native DSD 64/128. This cable also has a HyperStreamII Quad Dac Dac ™ Architecture to help the chip with processing. Really a high-quality cable with plenty of features not usually seen in these types of cables.
Build / Design / Internals / Fit
Build Quality (iem)
Now we will cover the actual earphones themselves. So, the build quality is probably not top of the line for this price point, but you have to figure in the package as a whole when looking at the final price. In all honesty, the ST2P are made fairly well, just nothing which will blow your mind. Made entirely out of a resin material, like hard plastic and made with a typical universal iem style. The resin is fully transparent too. The nozzle is about medium length, or average length I’d say, and the nozzle tip is roughly about 6mm in width. The build isn’t bad, but we’ve simply seen some amazing builds of late at very low prices. Again, take into account the fact that you can put any set of earphones on this cable. However, the ST2P is still built rugged enough. Again, they are made with hard resin material and should be hardy enough for working out, running, working around the house, at the market, etc. Those are some of the use cases which the ST2P will likely be most used for.
Design
As far as the actual design of the ST2P, I have to say they did a nice job. Like I said earlier, it’s a fully transparent housing which comes in two different colorways. Those are either “white transparent” or “black transparent”. Obviously, my set is the black transparent, and I really dig the look of these. It’s a very simple design yet tasteful. Very much a minimalist look. I look that the faceplates feature a golden logo on the center which is a nice touch for a set like this. They just look cool. Really a nice job by Hidizs for not going too far or too flashy with the design, which is something I know these brands are tempted to do at times.
Internals
Inside of the ST2P housing Hidizs decided upon a 10mm PU+PEEK composite dual magnetic dynamic driver to put to use inside of the ST2P. It’s a solid setup for a budget set. No doubt about it. I don’t hear a bunch of undue distortions or oddities in the sound. It’s a solid driver, at least to my ears.
Fit / Comfort
For me, the ST2P fits like a glove. Of course, I rarely have iems that don’t fit my ears well. Perhaps I’m some sort of an oddity but I simply just don’t have issues with fit most of the time. I say that to also speak on the fact that I cannot tell you if this set is going to fit your ears. I wish I could. The truth is, it is an extremely light earphone, you won’t feel them once you’ve achieved a seal. Very little pressure on the inner ear. Really the ST2P is a very comfortable iem and I had zero issues in fit and comfort. I’m sorry if this doesn’t help you at all. I could also add that, you shouldn’t get any undue condensation build up using this set. Let’s say you are working out, running etc. So that’s a plus I suppose. At any rate, really light, not too large, nozzle fits fine (not too deep), and just an overall comfortable earphone.
Drivability
Output Power
Okay, I will be very short here because the cable is really the determining factor on how much power any of you are giving the ST2P. I suppose you could take them off of the cable and use it with another cable though. At which point this section may make some sense. However, let me just knock it all out in a quick paragraph because this review is really intended for the earphones to be used with the included DSP cable. So, this set is flat out sensitive. Very sensitive. For instance, the ST2P has an impedance of 32 ohms and a sensitivity of 108 db’s, which is pretty darn sensitive folks. Basically, you can drive this set with most any source. In regard to the included DSP cable the ST2P gets huge amounts of headroom and can reach ear splitting levels if need be. The 70mW provided from the DSP chip within the cable is honestly overkill but works awesomely for this set of earphones.
Source Tonality
Again, this section is only for if you want to take the ST2P off of the included cable for use with another cable. So, the ST2P is closer to neutral/bright in tonal coloration and so I do advise a slightly warmer source device first. Actually, just don’t use a “bright” source. I’d try something anywhere from neutral, warm/neutral, to warm. You simply don’t want to exaggerate the bright upper-mid/ lower treble range any more than it already is emphasized. Still, at the end of the day, just keep this set in the included cable. Together they sound great. Hidizs did the work and paired these two nicely. A very harman-ish sound. I’ll talk about that more in the next section as best I can.
DSP Cable Tonal Pairing
Now, as far as pairing the DSP cable with “other” earphones (which I did a lot by the way), I would really try to use slightly warmer sounding sets. The ES9281AC Pro is a slightly more energetic sounding dac chip with the way it was implemented in this cable. I’m telling you, pair with a warm/neutral to warm sounding set and you’ll be overly impressed. For instance, the warm/neutral BASN BMaster5 is warm/neutral, and I used it with the MMCX DSP cable that Hidizs provided me. Oh, my folks! It sounds so great! The tonalities converge wonderfully. Again, this cable is tuned a hint on the brighter side and so brighter sets will certainly come across… well… bright. Just keep that in mind. Also, this is not an across-the-board thing. For instance, I tested the 2-pin cable with some brighter sets like the Simgot EA500LM as well as the EPZ Q5 Pro and what it provided was a much more detailed sound. Certainly, bright for some (brighter earphones) but the sound is well controlled and very clean. So, there is just a couple tidbits about the sound pairing with the DSP cable.
Sound Impressions
*Note: I want to preface this sound section with a few things. First off, I used KBear 07 tips for all critical listening. I also burned the ST2 Pro in for a couple days. If I’m being honest, I didn’t see much of a change. I also listen almost entirely with flac or better files that are stored on my devices. Lastly, I will not cover the sound portion of this review as intensely as I usually do. So much of the sound is covered by the cable as well as the earphones and so I will complete a quick summary in each 3rd of the frequency (bass, mids, treble).
How does it sound?
The Hidizs ST2 Pro Nebula comes in with a definite V-shaped sound signature that emboldens and emphasizes the mid-bass as well as a certain lift within the treble region. If I were to characterize this sound in one word, I’d call it “energetic” first. However, this energy comes with a certain level of capped brightness that skews all notes crisp, well enough detailed and a solid note structure. I would usually never say this about a set which I would presume is a budget minded set without the cable attached. I don’t hear the uncontrolled and wild splash of a treble boosted budget iem using cheap drivers crafted to make a quick buck. No sir. Hidizs put some time into this iem/cable combo folks. You can hear it right away. Budget set or not, the sound is a solid bright/neutral and fun sound with sparkly and sprightly energy which serves very well those folks who enjoy this type of contoured and structured brightness. There’s just a ton of energy on tap, big macro dynamics too. Yes, there’s certainly a huge dose of heavy and deep droning bass and a fairly robust yet vibrant slam. That low-end weight is contrasted with a tinsley, semi-bright/brilliant and lively treble region. Despite those regions, like any V-shaped iem the midrange is a hair less intense and pushed back into the sound field. Nothing which takes away from my listening, but it’s a classic sounding V-shaped iem for sure. Crisp over smooth, fairly well detailed, cleaner as you work your way up the frequency and once more… energetic. So please keep this in mind when deciding about this set.
Iem, or the cable?
One of the first questions that I needed answered was whether the brunt of the sound that I was hearing was coming from the iem or the cable? Well, how much bass, the brightness, the control, the highly precise sound, where was this coming from? Is it a perfect combo? So, there is most certainly a difference when I take the iems off of the included DSP cable and attach them to a 4.4 cable for example. The bass is even more pronounced, the lower mids a hair more forward, heavier in note weight, the sound a touch smoother. Just a touch. What I think we are seeing is something that I like to call “a damn fine pairing”. I think that together they sound wonderful. I mean, what is a DSP cable anyways if not the exact same thing as we hear when we plug these earphones into any other source. Two products meshing together to form a coupled sound. So, to answer my query, yes there is a mildly large difference as to how the ST2P sounds with or without the DSP cable. To be 100% honest, the iem attached to the 4.4 cable still sounds pretty darn good. Yet it is a hair different then you’ll hear attached to the DSP cable. I figured this would be the case. It’s a little bit of both. With that said, let’s take a look at this pairing within each 3rd of the mix…
Bass Region
The low-end is one which rumbles fairly deep and has some solid extension into the lowest of lows. The bass hits with some solid slam, hard surfaced, not pillowy, meaty in its weight. Yet it doesn’t come across warm, or wide in its presence. In fact, the bass is pretty tight per the quantity I would say. Especially for the price point. It’s bold, yet it’s punchy. The low-end has a crisp punch, not softened, yet also not that concrete hard thud either. Transients attack, decay, and recover quick enough to not allow the lag of harmonics to stuff up the sound field very much. These ES9281AC Pro dac chips are doing some work here because without the cable the ST2P isn’t quite as exact in its note definition. I’m not saying it’s a kilo-buck killer, but the ST2P has some nice agility whilst coming across bullish. I’d usually say it’s “tight for its size” or “clean per the quantity”. This is true here.
Substantial Enough
That all said, the bass is a little baked, arid almost, not as moist in note body, perhaps a hint dry. Obviously, some tracks will tell a different tale, but I can easily hear this in the track “Take On Me” by Weezer. The kick drums are very tight, yet they’re also robust in body. There’s a definite snap on attack, a tacky edge on the initial kick at the crest of the note, while the hollow boom is substantial enough to help kick drums sound very satisfying to my ears. In truth, it’s just another way to hear them. Is it perfectly natural? Not exactly. However, still a nice sound out of this set. Again, you can hear the energy willing each note, sprucing up my music, adding a dash of intensity.
Clean, Defined, Rigid
Now, extension into the sub-bass isn’t the deepest and there may be a bit of a roll-off there but nothing which is too egregious. I still have a haptic feel to many tracks and a low droning deep pitch in tracks which call for it. Tracks like “Mancey” by Andrew Bird. The bass guitar is very clean, defined, rigid in its mass and best of all, the bass doesn’t infringe on the rest of the track or mask over any other instruments. Then you look at the mid-bass which has a hair more emphasis to my ears. I hear unsullied and precise notes when needed and I hear a bulbous boom when needed too. Also, there’s no doubt that the ST2P’s bass may surprise some of you with its obvious texture to the sound. Add to that, the speed of the bass is pretty impressive as the ST2P is able to take on quicker and more complicated bass tracks pretty nicely. Really a nicely done low-end for what it is. Maybe not everyone’s favorite, but it is a skilled low-end which will fit many genres well.
Midrange
As far as the midrange is concerned, it’s ever-so-slightly recessed. As with most V-shaped sound signatures the ST2P’s mids sit a hair back in the sound field, at times. Without question there are some tracks which you will call me a liar over. Some tracks sound almost up front. However, on average the midrange sits roughly on the same sound field plane as the bass while the highs sit a hair closer to the listener. Again, not every track is created equal, and you may hear something different. Nothing at all that sounds weird or out of place and the midrange has good energetic presence against the rest of the mix too. I think a lot has to do with the fact that the midrange is very clean. Separation is great, notes are more sculpted as well which helps the note presence sound more defined to the ear as notes are less meshed together. At any rate, I hear a leaner style note body in the midrange but once again, the presence is enough to give each note some density. They may be a bit lean, but they aren’t papery, or overly dry which really does help vocalists and instruments to not come across weak, frail, or artificial sounding. I go back to the energy as there is certainly some vibrance. On top of that, the mids have a lot of air and openness to their sound which greatly helps note separation, Imaging, and detail retrieval.
Males & Females
Males and instruments in the lower midrange carry some level of vibrance but this area is certainly a hair smoother overall than females in the upper-mids. There is the slightest bit of warmth carried over from the bass region which helps in this regard. The upper midrange on the other hand carries more sparkle, and a healthy dose of shimmer, more energetic, and I perceive them as slightly more forward than the low-mids. This is to be expected though. With all that said, both male and female vocalists sound pretty nice for a V-shaped sounding budget set set. Honestly, I don’t feel they are lackluster at all, and vocalists usually come across pretty well highlighted against the mix. Depending on the track of course.
Articulate & Transparent
Certainly, Hidizs was going for a higher energy sound in the midrange, more articulate, transparent, and they were likely wanting to craft a sound which illuminated the subtleties (details) within a track. This is exactly what I hear. Note weight is not lush, or ultra rich. The sound generally is a bit more crisp than smooth. There’s some nonabrasive crunch and solid note contour too. It’s actually a nice sounding midrange. Again, separation is really great to my ears, the sound is open and airy enough and it is rather easy to pick apart details in my music. This is definitely a set which toes the analytical line with just enough musicality. All things considered, I feel Hidizs did a nice job here. Without question the dac chip has a huge influence on the overall sound and the quality of that chip can be heard.
Treble Region
The treble has some certain sparkle to it. I like to think of it as controlled brilliance as I don’t feel it ever goes over the top. Perhaps on a couple tracks the ST2P can get a hair rambunctious, but most of the time everything keeps solid control and stays bright yet not offensive to my ears. Really, I find the treble to be a standout feature of this set! Wonderfully done highs for the price and the tech. I never find them to be overbearing which is quite nice being that the sound is skewed bright. A very lucid sounding and vivacious treble that honestly doesn’t lead way to splashiness as so many sets can do when the treble is a bit more enthusiastic. Especially budget sets! I hear very solid extension helping cymbals and hi-hats to sound bodied, with some bite, some well-mannered snap, but never tizzy or splashy. I can clearly hear the cymbals on “In Bloom” by Nirvana. Never once do they sound out of tune or anything alluding to a corrupted and forced-bright treble region. Which brings me to my next point; I don’t hear any forced resolution, which is all too common. Brands will force lift their treble regions to seem more resolute, leading to better details but also a slew of other compromises. Not the ST2P. Actually, I am impressed first at what this cable can do because it does help veer other iems in similar ways. But also, I’m impressed by what this budget single DD can do. I really am. Just a very clean and pristine treble with great note definition, note body, and treble bite without the abrasiveness and sharpness which I’m so used to.
Nice job Hidizs
I think one of the things you’ll find with this iem/cable pairing is that the treble exceeds what you may be expecting. Now, I’m not saying that it pinches above its price, or that it far out paces sets within its price point. But I am saying that Hidizs did a fine job in recreating this area of the spectrum. You’ll Gear very good detail retrieval which has very solid micro-dynamics picking up even the finest minutiae. Obviously, in Ultra complicated tracks you won’t get the same results being that this is a single DD. However, for a single DD at this price I still hear very good instrument separation in the treble region, and it can take on some very fast paced tracks too. Tracks like “Gone a Long Time” by Billy Strings (I always use his songs for treble output) which has layers of banjo play at fast paces. But the treble also has good tonality and timbre for a slightly brighter sound. Tracks like “Evil Twin” by Lindsey Sterling is a great example of a set which keeps great cadence, and each note sounds accounted for and rounded. For the most part. They did a good job here.
Not for everyone
Having said all of those glowing words I should also add that without question not everyone wants to hear a lifted treble region. I get this and I didn’t want this section to be complete without speaking on it. Of course, there are those who only desire a warmer and more organic sounding treble. I have plenty of friends who only enjoy a rolled-off and darker treble region. In case you haven’t read any of this review, the ST2P is not that… at all. This set is not going to be kind to poorly recorded tracks as well. I know because I have heard it. When you have such a crisp and defined sound then subtle jagged and grainy or low-resolution tracks will sound as such. However, beyond those caveats, the treble is not bad at all, nice work Hidizs.
Technicalities
Detail Retrieval
As far as the technical ability of the ST2P, I feel that I’ve covered this by now. However, I will reiterate some of the points covered this far. First off, detail retrieval is fantastic on this cable/iem pairing. The two of them together really do highlight the minutiae very well in most any track. I would say that the only slight departure from that would be heavy bass tracks. Of course, the bass can and will mask over some of the subtleties in music. Of course, those are few and far in between. And also, who of you are dying to hear the details within a heavily bass focused song? That’s not something that I’d think many of you are trying to do. Perhaps also extremely complicated tracks will give this single DD a run for its money. This isn’t some five-driver hybrid with different drivers taking on only specific portions of the frequency band. This is a single DD handling it all and so obviously more congested and complicated tracks will stretch the single DD past its abilities. Also, this is a budget set so I would suggest tempering your expectations a bit. Still, I am very impressed by the transparency, resolution, and overall detail retrieval ability of the ST2P.
Separation / Imaging
Just like detail retrieval, the ST2P has an uncanny ability to add “perceived” air gaps between instruments and voices. It’s a more open sounding set and therefore you do get a sense of extra space for elements of an imaginary stage to exist. Also, notes are concise on this set. You don’t have lingering harmonics plugging up the air lanes or meshing notes together. Not exactly anyways. Of course this is a majorly simplified view from my perspective, but I feel that note separation is very well accomplished on most tracks. Imaging follows suit to the tee. Actually, I find the imaging to be awesome. Every instrument has its place, and there’s nice layering at times too. Really well done.
Soundstage
Now, the soundstage is about average I’d say, if not a hair above average. Certainly, the sound is open and not congested. There’s room for the music to operate and the sound does seem past my ears. Obviously, some tracks actually sound more constricted and less open sounding and those won’t always come across vast or “above average”. By-and-large the soundstage has some good width. You also have good height too and decent depth. I’d say it’s weakest point of the stage is probably depth, but not bad by any stretch of the imagination.
How do the DSP cables sound with other iems?
I should note that I used both the 2-pin and mmcx (can be purchased separately) cables on other iems and I adore the influence they gave so many of my sets. For instance, I put the Fiio FD5 on the mmcx cable and folks… I don’t want to take it off. A very nice pairing together. The bass got much tighter as it’s no longer slightly flabby as it usually is, among other notable improvements. Slightly better detail retrieval than usual, a bit crisper at the crest of notes. Stuff like that. Of course, I think I can get this result from any number of more analytical sources, but it’s nice to hear this from a simple cable attached to my phone. Oh, the Kefine Klean attached to the 2-Pin cable is another winner combo. Think of the tonality and timbre of the Klean and add even more contour to the note delivery as well as a touch of added transparency without hindering musicality too much h. The bass gets a hint tighter, yet you lose none of its authority. The midrange sounds even more open to my ears too. I feel the note weight suffers a bit, but you gain in technical ability to my ears. These two pair very well together in my opinion. Another set is the EPZ Q5 Pro which is a bright leaning iem. Most folks wouldn’t put a bright iem with a brighter leaning source, but I found that the cable doesn’t add unwanted glare. That’s the thing, it’s a very controlled and capped brilliance, neutrality without the peaks. The Q5 Pro actually sounds highly technical with really astounding detail retrieval paired with this cable. Folks, I could go on and on, but I won’t bore you. Basically, the cable fits many sets of differing tonal colorations. I’d say it improves upon many of them.
Is it worth the asking price?
This is the real question one needs answered before plopping down their hard-earned money on a set of earphones. Now, the early bride pricing is an absolutely ridiculously low $39. If you can get on the early bird, then I would do it, pull the trigger. It is too good to pass up for those who really need a good workout set, a good work around the house set, or just a set which you want hi-resolution audio at a cheap price. It’s actually a great starter set for folks getting into the hobby too. I feel that there’s no question whatsoever if the Hidizs ST2 Pro Nebula is worth the cost of ownership. Absolutely it is. Even at the much higher price of $89 it is still a good deal as well. The reason being is that this set is a two-for-one. You have the iems which are tuned well in the first place. However, what’s even nicer is the fact that you now have a very high-quality cable which can be used with any iem ending in either a 2-pin or mmcx termination (depending on what you are getting). Or just buy the cable separately! It’s an amazing DSP cable and easily the best I’ve heard to date. In fact, I just got the Tanchjim Bunny (brand new) and the Hidizs cable far outshines the Bunny’s cable in overall DSP cable skill and fidelity.
The Why…
Because you are getting a two-for-one deal which can be used in many different configurations. This is a nice benefit of this Kickstarter. Obviously, you can purchase the two (iem/cable) as a pair, or you can simply purchase the awesome cable separately. There’re many benefits to either route you’d take. Friends, this cable has the same dac chip that is used within the Questyle M15! Yes, one of the best dongle dacs on planet earth. Many others too, which is wild. The fact that it is in a DSP cable is pretty cool. To add to that, the Hidizs DSP cable also gets you way more power output than 99% of the cables on the market with 70mW per 32 ohms. When it’s all said and done you will be able to power just about all iems very well. Also, it’s simply a nice package deal in my mind. I really think you are getting a complete little in-the-go setup for highly portable purposes. The iems themselves are tuned well and I believe that Hidizs put a lot of time and work into getting the sound right here. I hear a very detailed, very clean sound that doesn’t skimp on bass. Rather, the ST2P is bass heavy. Yet it isn’t a slow and muddy bass, but instead it’s a tight, controlled and punchy bass. The mids are very transparent, energetic and the treble will pull every last detail from your music with good extension. Honestly, I wouldn’t dream of saying this set isn’t worth the money. I suppose if you have a huge collection and have zero need for a setup like this then maybe you wouldn’t want to splurge for it and a few other examples. However, yes, the ST2P is worth the cost to own it.
Non-Affiliated Purchasing Links:
–Kickstarter Link (Super Early Bird: $39) Beginning December 19th
Conclusion
To conclude my full written review of the Hidizs ST2 Pro Nebula, I have to first thank the audio brand Hidizs for providing the ST2 Pro. Hidizs has always been a fantastic company to work with. They have never asked anything of me but to publish a review. Never asked to read my review first, never asked me to speak highly of their products and have always been very helpful to me. So, thank you so very much Hidizs and the people with whom I deal with at Hidizs. You know who you are… Thank you!
I also thank you, the reader, for clicking the link and checking out this review. Shoot, I thank anyone who even clicks to the website. We rely so much on you all, and it means the world to us that you would stop by and spend some time. You are the reason that we are keeping the lights on, so to speak. I truly hope that you get something out of this review, and it is of some help to you.
Other Perspectives
Now that you’ve read my words on the Hidizs ST2 Pro Nebula, I do hope you’ll click other links and check out other reviews from other reviewers and audio fans. It is so important to have a good idea what you are buying folks. I mean, unless of course you are like me and you blind buy constantly. I didn’t say “Do as I do”! Seriously though, it only makes sense to hear other perspectives and learn as much as you can prior to spending your money. So, please check out other thoughts and opinions about the ST2P and hopefully you make the right decision for you. With that said, I think I’m done. Please take good care, stay as safe as possible and always… God Bless!
Non-Affiliated Purchasing Link:
–Kickstarter Link (Super Early Bird: $39) Beginning December 19th