If you have been following the Chifi IEM community, you should have noticed that some of the "successful" earphones that the Chinese have released recently usually only consist of a single Dynamic Driver. Among the companies that has jumped into that trend such as: Tin Hifi, BLON, Moondrop... Kinera is also a notable contender. The Kinera TYR, which I am reviewing today, seem to be another "1DD Budget" attempt from them after the Kinera Sif.

Before going into the post, if you are new, please read this before having any comments regarding my writing or point of view‌.

Information:

The Kinera TYR was kindly provided by HifiGo in exchange for my honest review of the product, you can get a 5$ discount on Hifigo when buying the Kinera TYR with the code: KINERATYR5

Build and Accessories:

The Kinera TYR packaging
  • 3 pairs of silicon tips <S/M/L>
  • 3 pairs of Final E tips <S/M/L>
  • Leather case
  • The IEM itself

I don't have much to say about the accessories besides from the Final E tips which is a good addition to the entire package, other items are expected as far as a budget IEM goes. The only complaint that I would give is the leather case which seems to be cheaply made and I can see more people would prefer a soft pouch or a hard case to store their IEM if they were provided with one.

The Kinera TYR features a plastic cylinder shell which is small and light. Its design reminds me of the Final E series earphone - comparing to the Final E1000, the size is around the same, but the shell design is much more simple than the Kinera TYR.

Kinera TYR and Final E1000

If you have used some Final's budget earphone such as the E1000/E2000, you will find similar experience with the TYR. In my case, I managed to get a good seal and the earphone stay relatively still in my ear even when I shake my head. While its isolation is somewhat average, it is still usable for outdoor providing the ambient noise isn't too loud. Finally, the TYR also comes with a non-detachable cable with mic which has a rubbery texture but seems durable thus acceptable for the price.

Sounds:

Kinera TYR Frequency response

Measurements are done on a steel coupler with dynamic microphone, while the result seem to be close to an IEC-711 coupler, there is noticeable roll off in the bass region and frequencies higher than 2kHz is also expected to have 2 - 3dB roll off.

My measurements are also raw and uncompensated, hence flat in graph is not flat in real life.

Signature:

The Kinera TYR features a warm/dark signature depending on your interpretation. The mid-bass seems to be the focus of the bass region and frequencies start to rise at 1kHz as usual and peak at 2.7kHz. There is also a noticeable peak at around 6 - 7kHz depending on the insertion depth of the IEM into the coupler.

Subjective opinions:

Let's go with the cons first. If you are looking for a budget earphone that focuses on the tonality, the Kinera TYR might not be for you. Of course, this is entirely based on preference on how natural an earphone sounds, but to me, the TYR is shouty and harsh. Not only that, cymbals and hi-hats lack sparkle and sound a little bit dark and the earphone is also slightly sibilant depending on your song choice. This prevents me from recommending the TYR for both Instrumental and Orchestral, but Pop can still somewhat work if you are willing to pass the tonality issue.

Now onto the good part. One of the strengths of the Kinera TYR seem to lies in electronic music and more specifically to me is Speedcore. While lacks punch and rumble, the earphone managed to have enough bass that makes it stays out of the "flat" region and provides enough energy to bring out the total 300+ bpm madness of this chaotic genre without being too overwhelming which impressive for a dynamic driver in an earphone this price range. I was also pretty surprised to find myself enjoying Rock, Metal on the Kinera TYR. This is mostly due to how fast cymbals decay despite being slightly dark on this earphone combining with the bite and grit from electronic guitars that the TYR was able to produce.

Overall, not really a good earphone, but not a bad one either.

Choice comparisons:

Final E1000:

Kinera TYR vs Final E1000

Judging from the tonality alone, the E1000 seems to take the cake here. Its tuning, in my opinion, is far more balanced than the TYR and I can see more people enjoying the Final E1000 than the Kinera TYR just because of this. This doesn't mean the TYR is left in the dust though, one of my complaints about the Final E1000 is its upper mid and I would prefer it to be more forward which the TYR managed to achieve in this case.

With the price of around 30$, both of these earphones are comparable to each other and it depends on your preference to choose which is better for your need:

  • If you want to find a warm, balanced and "relaxed" sounds, go for the Final E1000.
  • If you want a more energetic experience with the trade-off of tonality, go for the Kinera TYR.

Conclusion:

In a sense, you can say the Kinera TYR is my "guilty pleasure" listens and I won't deny that. Its tuning while needs a lot of improvement managed to go well with some of my favorite genres. Hence, neither I would not outright disregarding it nor recommending it like how I did with the BLON BL-03 or Tin Hifi T4. At least, the TYR will go into my own personal "honorable mention" chamber for hitting some of the marks I am looking for in the budget range.

Oh hey, since people asking, I got a page for donation money: https://ko-fi.com/banbeuhobby. A cup of coffee near my house costs 3$, if you guys want to give me a cup of coffee then this is the place. I don't really want to put a Patreon right now due to my lack of content so this is the best I can do, for now.