TuneOut Audio All-In SE Earbud

written by: Ferdz A.

Introduction

This time around, we’ll be featuring a local earbud for this review. Introducing, the All-In SE (Special Edition) earbud by TuneOut Audio!

Disclosure

This review was made possible via the assistance of the following: Daniel dela Cruz Jr. for the wonderful A-B circuit switch; Marlon Mercado of M3 Customs for the awesome interconnect cables; and Jae Kong of TuneOut Audio for sending me a couple of his custom earbud for review.

I did not receive any form of payment from TuneOut Audio in exchange for this review. The TOA All-In earbud, and the Horizon are on a long-term loan and will be returned once I have finished writing and publishing my reviews.

The rest of the gear that were used in this review are currently owned by me.

About me

Musically, I prefer listening to mostly classic rock, progressive rock, blues, jazz, and instrumental jazz fusion music. From time to time, I also listen to alternative rock, heavy metal, and meticulously chosen pop and R&B songs. I also noodle on my guitar whenever I have time to spare.

Reviewing the Basics

• A Brief History

TuneOut Audio is a local audio-enthusiast store owned by an audio enthusiast named Jae Khong, and is located near Quezon City Circle in Quezon City, Philippines. They initially began as a one-stop shop that offered cheap hi-fi audio gear for those who want to get into the basics of high-fidelity sound without tightening one’s belt. Recently, they started to slowly and courageously dive into the world of custom-made audio drivers with their current earbud line. They considered this to be a notch above the “budget-fi” category, and have aptly created and labeled theirs as the “budget-champ” class.

TuneOut Audio’s All-In SE earbud is their current flagship earbud from their increasingly growing product line. This also includes the TuneOut Audio Horizon earbud - we'll have a review about this one soon.

• Packaging/Accessories/Product Features

The All-In SE arrived at my doorstep via TOA's very own courier. The earbud and its accessories were packed inside a small red square tin. The All-In SE was neatly tied with a short black tie wire and tucked inside its own small resealable plastic bag. There were three (3) pairs of earbud foams packed in its own resealable bag as well - two (2) pairs of full foams, and a pair of donut foams. Based on what I’ve seen so far, the earbud foams are random picks so you’ll never know what color and type is included in yours unless you specifically request what you want from TOA.

While this earbud is under my care, I put in a couple of silica gel mini-bags, attached a more appropriate cable winder, as well as a dust plug cap to maintain its brand new condition (as with any other gear that is under my possession). I truly hate it when gear is neglected. 😊

The All-In SE used an MX500 shell with a metal mesh for its front cap. This is the same material that I usually see being used for premium custom earbuds. The cables are, according to TOA, made of pure SPC (silver-plated copper) that were acceptably braided. The set that I got used black and red cables with a red shell. It’s quite soft and has very little memory when stretching it out after being coiled for storage. It’s non-microphonic as well, so that’s a really big plus since I assume many will use this for their commute. Attached on the right-side cable is a small silver-alloy bead for quick driver identification without looking at the L and R printed labels on the shells. The cables go into a short brass-like y-split that has a very small protruding hole attached on its side. I assume you can use the hole to tie up and organize the cables with a string or thin cable, but I’d rather have the small hole removed instead. I prefer smooth metal parts.

Moving towards the end of the earbud’s line, I noticed that it has a very very thick cable relief made of shrink tube. This, I believe, is a little bit too much for a 4-core cable. The thick relief begins about a half to three-quarters of an inch before the plug’s opening, and overlaps and ends about a half an inch from the opening towards the end of the plug. Not that this is a big problem for me because I love gear that has increased durability, but maybe a slightly thinner shrink tube would have more effectively sufficed. There’s also a small circular brand sticker on the plug that spells out - TuneOut Audio. The plug’s end is gold-plated, so that oxidation on the plug’s contact area can be prevented at least to some degree.

The TOA All-In SE can be purchased at TuneOut Audio’s brick-and-mortar shop in the heart of Quezon City, Philippines or via their Shopee store at https://shopee.ph/tuneoutaudio for 1,099php or roughly $20 USD —— [edit: the All-In SE is now being offered at 699php or approximately $14 USD].

• Tech Specs

Driver: 15mm Dynamic driver
Impedance: 32Ω
Headphone sensitivity: —dB
Frequency range: —Hz
Interface: 3.5mm trs
Cable length: 1m
Weight: between —g

• Sonic Review

Note: I solely used the Heigi donut foams for this review because I experience hot spots whenever utilizing earbuds without foams. The donut foams also provide me with the seal and stability that I need when wearing this type of driver. I also decided to not use full foams due to its influence with the mids and highs, although it does have minimal effect with the lows.

• Gear used
• TuneOut Audio All-In SE earbud (with a total burn-in time of 104 hours & 28 minutes via a mix of casual listening, pink noise, and logarithmic sine wave)
• Pioneer XDP 300R
• Aune M1S
• Zishan Z1 with Burson V5i-D operational amplifier
• XU09 portable amplifier with LM4562NA and OPA2107AP operational amplifiers
• Venture Electronics RunAbout Plus (stock operational amplifiers)
• M3 Customs 4-core Interconnect Cable x 2pcs
• DIY A-B Switch by Daniel dela Cruz Jr.
• Heigi Donut Foams (in black)
• TinGo TC200
• TOA Horizon
• VE Monk Lite 120ohms

• Tracks used (in 16 or 24-bit FLAC)
• Coolio - Gansta’s Paradise
• Naughty Professor - Brain Storm
• Eric Johnson - Manhattan (Live)
• Metallica - Master of Puppets
• The Corrs - Radio (Unplugged Live)
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes
• Dina Blade - My Romance

• Highs - The All-In earbud produced very slight sibilance with the Zishan Z1, but the highs were smoothly rendered as evident with the high-octave instrument notes and cymbal hits without sounding muffled. Basically, there are enough details to satisfy the casual enthusiast.

• Mids - After burn-in, the vocal and lead instrument sections had a more balanced presentation. It wasn’t placed upfront anymore, but at almost the same level as the low end. The rendering of the acoustic guitar on Radio by The Corrs was great, but the low-mid section sounded a bit unclear. The vocals and instrument solos are on the front line and are not overshadowed by the low end.

• Lows - Due to the Heigi donut foams, the sub and mid bass had a very slight boost. The mid bass had a stronger presence in the tracks after burn-in. It’s got good sub bass extension, but it’s neither boomy nor bassy. There’s enough details to please, at least in my case. With fast-paced tracks, it’s unexpectedly slow. The quantity presented by the All-In SE is enough to satisfy my need to hear and feel the bass in the tracks. It’s got a slightly better attack in this frequency range compared to the other buds used in this review, but has slower decay compared to the VE Monk Lite.

• Soundstage and Instrument Separation - The soundstage’s width is slightly above average with a narrower stage height and depth. The instrument separation and layering were also average. It was easy to identify where each instrument was placed save for tracks that had more than 4 instruments and played faster. The first and second layer were discernible, but the third layer was a little bit unclear.

• Other observations - This earbud has a more balanced sound than an analytical one. An analytical driver requires it to be “highly detailed,” which is not the case with the All-In SE. From what I’ve used and owned so far, higher-tiered drivers that have higher-impedance ratings are more likely to be categorized as analytical.

Comparisons

• with the TinGo TC200 - The TC200 has a more extended, detailed, and energetic treble than the SE, but the SE has a better-detailed low end compared to the slightly boomy bass of the former. The mid frequency of the TC200 is also more upfront and is better defined compared to the SE. The TC200 also wins against the SE when it comes to staging and layering.

• with the VE Monk Lite 120 ohms (utilized the VE RunAbout Plus) - The SE has a much better low-frequency definition compared to the Monk Lite. The Monk Lite’s presentation of the mid and high-frequencies are much better and more balanced; there’s also more micro details to be had with the Monk Lite. The Monk’s stage is much narrower than the SE’s, but I’ll have to give the separation and layering to the Monk.

• with the TuneOut Audio Horizon - The SE’s presentation of the mid and treble frequencies compared to the Horizon is more acceptable. It’s more defined and better balanced. The low end is also better detailed and more compact because I find the Horizon’s bass to be slightly more boomy than the SE’s. However, the Horizon has better staging and layering than the SE.

Pairings (impressions from budget, entry, to mid-fi gear)

• with the Zishan Z1 (with Burson V5i-D) - The Zishan Z1’s op amp-rolling capability and its very cheap market price is regarded as quite a popular digital audio player at the budget level. Users are able to have more control over the DAP’s resulting sound due to this ability. By using the Burson V5i-D as its operational amplifier, I was able to get a neutral-leaning-to-bright signature (with a slight boost in details). The All-In SE’s performance with the Z1 can be regarded as already acceptable by a casual-but-budget-limited user. You may just refer to the presented review information above about the SE’s pairing with the Z1.

• with the XU09 portable amplifier (with TI LM4562NA as the low-pass filter, and BB OPA2107AP as the main operational amplifier) - It’s quite challenging to come up with a good pair of operational amplifiers that can produce a near-neutral sound with the portable budget amplifier, XU09. The LM4562 and OPA2107 are the closest that I can get to getting enough details without bumping any of the frequency range’s lows, mids, and highs too high. The resulting sound signature is slightly balanced with a slight boost in details. The SE’s behavior with this budget amplifier is the same as how it performed with the Zishan Z1, except it sounded clearer, more detailed, and more open.

• with the Venture Electronics RunAbout Plus portable amplifier (all stock) - Using the SE with the RA Plus, I felt that a thin layer of veil has been lifted from the whole sound. Everything just opened up more compared to when the SE was used with the XU09.

• with the Aune M1s - The SE’s capacity with the Aune M1s presented a stage depth that was slightly better. This was due to the M1s’ inherent black background. The stage width and height also showed a bit of improvement that all the entities within each track were more identifiable and better placed. The overall sound was also thicker. No other changes were identified due to the neutral signature sound of the DAP.

• with the Pioneer XDP 300r - With the 300r, the SE presented a better and nearer-to-actual live sound of the instruments; it’s pretty much like how you’d hear the instruments were played either in a studio or on stage. Everything became better. There were slightly more refined details as well than when it was paired with the M1s.

Summary and Recommendations

The TOA All-In SE’s overall build is sturdy enough for an average individual’s daily use. There are several preset cable and shell color combinations that a prospective buyer can choose from. I just wish they’d include more earbud foams, a simple leather cable winder, and at least one small silica gel pack (humidity is any audio gearhead’s enemy)… then I’d be a happy camper with the whole package.

The All-In is more balanced-sounding. It can be used for most genres, especially jazz, pop, blues, classical, rhythm and blues, funk, and instrumental-based music. It can catch up to most speedy tracks, but I’d go for something that has a stiffer driver with a bit more energized treble if I want to really feel and get into the overdriven or distorted speed guitar riffs from rock and metal tracks. I’d also reconsider from using it for any genre that requires large amounts of bass to satisfy a basshead’s ears - a Vido would suffice in this regard.

Overall, it’s an okay earbud to have if you’re looking for something that can play most genres using an entry level DAP, or at the very least, an above average performing budget player. As with most low-impedance DD-driven drivers, a low-to-mid-power amplifier “may” also help improve its sound, but this is a “matter of preference.” TuneOut Audio tends to go crazy with their discounts, so it'd be a great idea to follow them online for those special deals.