WATCH FULL REVIEW HERE: https://youtu.be/_l2tLOOjBRg

PROS:

• Well-done warm-neutral sound signature
• Very engaging and fun sound overall
• Good value and quality package and accessories
• Superb quality modular cable
• Comfortable fitting
• Superb timbre (especially for a hybrid)
• Thick, deep, and punchy bass
• Rich, well-bodied midrange
• Smooth, inoffensive but well-extended treble
• Great technicalities for a warm IEM

CONS:

• The treble was a little too pushed down for my liking
• Note definition is not the cleanest
• Warmth might affect upper midrange to treble clarity on some tracks
• Not the most technical set for the price

WHO THIS SET IS FOR:

• Warm/bassheads
• People who want a complete package
• People who like a warm and very musical sound
• People who like a very rich and natural-sounding timbre
• People who want a safe, clean-sounding IEM

WHO THIS SET ISN’T FOR:

• People who want a bright and sparkly set (akin to older Timmy collabs)
• People who want the most technical set for the price
• People who want a lean and analytical sound
• People who want something more energetic-sounding
• People with smaller ears

GENRES

• R&B
• HipHop
• Rock
• Metal

SHORT REVIEW

Timmy goes out of his comfort zone by curating one of the best warm-neutral midrange releases of 2024. A thick, lush but very engaging bass complimented by a clean and natural midrange to treble puts the DaVinci as one of the top contenders for those looking for a warm and enveloping experience. It doesn’t excel in all aspects as the warmth can be too much for some tracks and you might find the shells a little bit (like Timmy’s other sets). But pound for pound, this is a very well-done and great value set and in my opinion, Timmy’s best. RECOMMENDED!

FULL REVIEW:

Collaboration IEMs usually tell a story. Sometimes shallow, occasionally compelling, but importantly something that both parties put a lot of love and effort into. This is especially true for reviewer collaborations where they really want to make sure the IEM that they tuned suits their needs or their goal perfectly. This leads to a somewhat formulaic style of tuning for most of their sets with minor variations in their presentation. 

But occasionally, you get a reviewer that is willing to try something different with their collab. Breaking their status quo and making something so left-field and unlike them, but ending up as arguably one of the most iconic sets to date. Let’s talk about the DUNU x Gizaudio DaVinci. 

DISCLAIMER: The Dunu x Gizaudio DaVinci was sent over by HiFiGo in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not told or paid to say anything and all my thoughts and opinions are mine.

THE RENAISSANCE:

Timmy Vangtan of Gizaudio has had 3 collaboration IEMs by far. Both sets achieve very different things but are fundamentally sets that follow Timmy’s preference of having a leaner low end with a sub-boost and energetic upper frequency. This is normal as you’d want to make your collab IEMs fit your preferences. So when Timmy came out with DUNU to create a $299 bass beast named DaVinci, I was more than shocked. I thought, “Has Timmy lost his mind? Making a warm IEM, an IEM that he would usually say the female vocals are husky?” But you see, Timmy didn’t just throw in bass for absolutely no reason. He had a realization. A spark of brilliance. A prophecy. And it all starts with the unboxing

UNBOXING

Coming from my last review of the DUNU Falcon Ultra M.T., I did not feel out of place at all with the unboxing experience of the DaVinci. Coming in a smaller but equally as beautiful box, the DaVinci’s unboxing experience is virtually the same as the Falcon Ultra. 

Here is the full list of accessories:

• Dunu DaVinci IEMs
• Modular Cable
• Cleaning brush
• 6.35mm to 3.5mm adaptor
• Dunu S&S Tips
• Dunu Candy Tips
• Olive Eartips
• Carrying Case
• 4.4mm modular jack
• Paperwork

Once again, we are blessed with DUNU’s accessories and am I absolutely all for it. The large carrying pouch is not only spacious enough to hold even a dap inside, you can put basically every single accessory you need inside and still have some room.

And how can I not mention the tips. The DUNU S&S is the goat and the Candy’s are solid eartips. You also get their basic olive eartips that I’m slowly growing to love due to it’s shape and how it reminds me a lot of the Divinus Velvet eartips. 

Amazing accessory list as usual, nothing you don’t need and everything you do (sadly the egg bag was omitted for probably obvious reasons) 

BUILD & FIT

There’s this theme that I notice Timmy does on his full resin IEMs. They’re some of the prettiest IEMs in the market. The Galileo’s, well, Gaileio space-themed aesthetics that remind me of the Starry Night truly sparkled in more ways than one. The same can be said for the DaVinci, but exudes maturity, warmth, and a woody vibe. 

Internally, the DaVinci features a 2DD + 4BA hybrid drive system which seems to be one of the best ways to implement a 2DD based on my experience so far. The drivers feature an independent five-channel sound guidance and electronic frequency crossover control with physical and electronic dual-frequency tuning sytems (from the official marketing material of the DaVinci). This is all houses in a 3D-printed resin and features a 0.78 recessed connector. 

There is much to love about the build and fit of the DaVinci, but some to be concerned about. First, the DaVinci is just a total beaut. I’ve talked about it already, so I’ll let you guys fawn over the design. But also, the recessed 2-pin connector is by far my favorite type of connector. It offers the best protection from having the pin or connector bend or break and it also looks much cleaner on the IEM itself. The only concern would be aftermarket cables not fitting the DaVinci at all and the resin itself breaking when put under a lot of pressure. I saw an SA6 break once because of this, but that’s probably the extreme case.

But worry not, I doubt you’d want to cable roll the DaVinci because the LEO cable is probably one of the best modular cables I’ve tried to date. It’s thick but malleable that is soft on the skin but feels very premium. The braids are confident and does not feel cheap and the interface feels premium. But the best thing about this is the modular system itself. I’m glad more companies are going away from the plug-and-pull modular system as it is very fragile and gets loose over time. DUNU is a pioneer in this regard with the Q-Lock design first found on the Hulk Pro and Hulk Mini, but they stepped it up with the LEO cable. 

Instead of a locking mechanism, the cable features a screw system that is INSANELY more secure than the plug-and-pull modular system and easier to maintain than the Q-Lock. It’s a genuinely genius modular system and I am all for it.

Comfort-wise, the DaVinci is surprisingly comfortable for how thick this thing is. This is all thanks to the fact that there are actual vents for air to pass through and not induce any pressure build-up. However due to the less aggressive shape of the inner shell, the DaVinci is also fatigue-free in even long listening sessions. I didn’t find it to be the most snug fitting nor the most stable out of all the IEMs I’ve tried, but it fits well and it’s comfortable. That’s all I ask for. My only concern is the rather thick nozzle. This seems to be a trend for Timmy’s IEMs as both of his previous collabs feature rather thick nozzles. The DaVinci here has a nozzle diameter of 6.6mm on the widest part and 5.5mm on the thinnest part. This makes certain tips problematic to put in like the Divinus Velvet eartips or the DUNU Candy eartips. This made me fall back to the legendary S&S and TRI Clarion’s for the best comfort. 

SOUND

Sound Signature

The DaVinci features a warm slight u-shaped sound signature with a VERY deep-reaching bass and warm lower mids, well-bodied overall midrange, and a clean, well-extended, and smooth treble. This is a complete contrast to the IEMs Timmy usually does and I am all for it.

Source Pairing

Despite the rather high 35ohms of impedance, the DaVinci sounds great even on cheaper or lower-powered sources. Using a better and more powerful source improves the sound exponentially in my experience as it cleans up the separation and layering while tightening the bass and improving the details. 

Bass

When you think of Timmy, thick, visceral bass usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But the DaVinci is exactly that and more. The bass on the DaVinci goes so deep and hits so hard that you might almost mistake this set for a collab from another reviewer. But nope, it’s just Timmy and he arguably made one of the best to do the warm-bassy kind of sound. The subbass goes VERY deep with a lot of rumble and impact, the midbass is thick, tactile, and punchy but surprisingly clean for its tuning philosophy. This is the warm-head’s dream. As someone who’s slowly starting to appreciate warmer IEMs, the DaVinci proved itself to be one of the best I’ve tried under $500 by far. The balance of sub and midbass is perfect and is perfect for the stuff I listen to

I could talk about the music that I found to be perfect on DaVinci for hours, but for your sake and mine, I will limit it to the best. First, classic rock and pop stuff sounded AMAZING on DaVinci. Take Fleetwood Mac, Earth, Wind and Fire, and Toto with their leaner low-end tuning sounding PERFECT on DaVinci. Metal tracks like August Burns red are also perfect thanks to the midbass emphasis giving the deep bass guitar riffs a very rich and engaging sound. Finally, R&B, HipHop, and EDM tracks sound absolutely wonderful with artists like Daniel Caesar, D’Angelo, and Erykah Badu sounding amazing on DaVinci.

I really could go more with examples but you get the gist. The bass of this thing is top-notch and truly lives up to being 2DD. I’d even go as to say that this is probably the best 2DD set I’ve heard by far in terms of my expectations of how a 2DD set is supposed to sound like. 

Mids

But with that much bass, you almost expect the mids to be sacrificed. But you are absolutely mistaken as the overall midrange presentation is quite linear yet focuses on having a full-bodied and rich sound overall. The lower mids, as expected, sound very full and thick but still nuanced. It doesn’t sound like your usual Harman lower mids scoop that makes lower midrange instruments like bass guitars, cellos, and grungy guitars sound lame and lifeless. This makes DaVinci perfect for heavier genres like Metal and thinly mixed tracks. However, I cannot deny that the upper mids are a little tamer in comparison due to the emphasis on the lower mids. The note weight also affects the note definition on certain tracks as the notes can get enveloped in warmth. It doesn’t mean that the upper mids sound recessed or pulled back, but it’s definitely more of the side dish than the main course. Upper-frequency instruments like violins, high-frequency guitars, pianos, and other air instruments have a decent amount of energy to compliment the thick low end but don’t overdo it to push the mids down for the sake of upper midrange clarity. This gives it a very natural rise into the upper frequencies that make the rest of the range sound quite tasteful and not unnatural to compensate for the bass. 

I’ll be using the same examples as earlier with metal, classic rock pop and hip-hop, but I’ll go into detail about specific tracks I like that highlight the mids. First, Toto’s Waiting For Your Love. A track I find to sound quite thin on most sets but sounds wonderfully thick and luscious on the DaVinci. It’s perfectly complemented with the very sparkly top end that sounds smooth yet crisp and giving the bass the much-needed thickness. The same can be said with Dreams by Fleetwood Mac as the bass sounds so freaking engaging and thick while keeping the mids sounding clean and the details up top sounding crisp and well-defined. 

Treble

One of the best things about the DaVinci is despite the thick, visceral bass, the treble is kept clean and snappy without falling into darkness or being forced to be bright. Many warm-leaning sets fall under this and mess up the tonality pretty badly, but the DaVinci completely avoids it by keeping the treble smooth but well-defined and well-extended. This is not going to be a treblehead’s dream as you might expect, but perfect for people who are sensitive to high frequencies but still want a well-defined treble. Air instruments sound crisp but smooth, trailing vocals are soft but well-extended, and instruments never sound choked or rolled off in an unnatural way.

This could not be better shown than with Earth, Wind and Fire’s Fantasy with the sharper, brighter tone on the track Fantasy having the perfect balance on the DaVinci. It also has the benefit of sounding great on poorly mastered tracks like Bruno Mars’s “That’s What I Like” with the oddly sharp treble sounding smoother yet still well-defined and detailed. 

Technicalities

At first glance, you might think that the DaVinci is not technically capable. The stigma people have on warmer sets is that they’re not as technically capable as sets that are brighter or more neutral-tuned. But the DaVinci balances the warmth with the rest of the frequency range along with the high-quality drivers that they used to make DaVinci still a very technically capable set. The highlights are definitely imaging and headstage, particularly in the lower frequencies where the stage depth is quite expansive and very immersive and the air region gives a sufficient level of width and height without sounding unrealistic. Resolving ability is also quite impressive with DaVinci not sounding low resolution in any way at all. The only thing I personally think it struggles with is separation as the warmth definitely has an effect on the perceived separation in the lower frequencies. This is mitigated by the bass being quite well-defined, although definitely on the woofier side, and the rest of the frequency range being quite neutral to allow for the instruments to be placed cleanly in the mix. 

REAL WORLD USAGE

Casual Use

This is arguably one of the biggest reasons as to why I love the DaVinci so much. As a casual use IEM, the DaVinci ticks all the boxes for a great IEM. Comfortable and decently stable fit that doesn’t get fatiguing, a warm, enveloping, and thick sound that makes content watched sound engaging and fun but clean enough to not muddy the rest of the soundscape and still have a lot of nuance in things like films and shows and is very easy to drive for when I just want to plug this straight into my laptop, phone or other devices. This thing that is amazing when watching films was the thicker low end makes explosions sound so immersive but flat enough in the midrange to not affect dialogue and the finer sound details

Gaming Use

This is, by far, the best IEM I’ve used for gaming. The tuning is perfect for competitive games like Valorant but even better for environmental or story based games that, just like the moves, aim to immerse you. And the DaVinci achieves that VERY well. I seriously have no gripes when it comes to the sound of the DaVinci when it comes to gaming and makes it even better when you consider the comfort of this thing. 

COMPARISONS

vs Yanyin Canon II

When I heard the DaVinci, one set came to mind that I thought perfectly competes with DaVinci. The Canon II has a flatter, cleaner, and more detailed overall sound at the cost of timbre not sounding as natural and not sounding as impactful as the DaVinci. The DaVinci on the other hand is more immersive, engaging, punchy, and rich with better timbre but not as clean separation and layering. Both sets cater to a very similar demographic but differ in how far you want the warmth. If you just want something slightly warm but still sparkly and crisp, the Canon II would be the set to get. But if you want pure warmth and richness, go for the DaVinci

vs HiBy x FAudio Project Ace

Another set with a lot of warmth, the Project Ace has a more linear, flatter and generally more forward presentation but worse timbre, especially in the treble. Tactility is cleaner on the Project Ace, but the DaVinci goes much much deeper and is more impactful. The DaVinci is also cleaner in the top end while also extending better compared to the Project Ace

vs DUNU Falcon Ultra M.T.

Compared to the Falcon Ultra, the DaVinci is even warmer, thicker, and more engaging to listen to but has an overall more skewed warmth presentation compared to the Falcon Ultra. The Falcon Ultra, to my ears, has a more balanced tonality with a cleaner overall sound that would be more versatile in more genres compared to the DaVinci. But the DaVinci has a much more immersive overall sound that makes the DUNU sound analytical in comparison. The DaVinci is also arguably less offensive than the Falcon Ultra overall. 

vs Simgot EA2000

You might be asking why EA2000 is over EA1000, and that’s because the EA1000 is a completely different style of tuning compared to the DaVinci. The pervious sets had a warmer tone that is similar to the DaVinci and is why I’m comparing it to the EA2000 instead. A bright v-shaped set with one of the best bass quality in the game. This still holds true as the bass of the EA2000 is tighter, and cleaner but still very impactful and deep-reaching. The DaVinci is warmer, and richer but also not as well-defined or tight compared to the EA2000. Everything else, however, the DaVinci is better (minus techs). 

CONCLUSION

A set born out of the need for warmth in the market, the DaVinci achieves exactly what it aims to do by providing us with one of the best warm/bassy sets in the market. Its focus on the bass gives it such a rich, thick, and engaging sound that is unlike anything I’ve heard. Most sets that try this much warmth often overdo it and sound muffled or muddy. 

The DaVinci is neither of those and sounds engaging but still clean. Pair that with the mid-to-treble region that perfectly compliments the bass and the insane level of accessories provided by DUNU making the DaVinci an absolute must-buy set for anyone looking for a warm-neutral set with a focus on musicality and engagement. 

Admittedly, it really isn’t the cleanest sounding set in terms of separation and some sparkle might do the set a little bit better to make it an all-rounder, but for what it aims to do, it does a damn good job.

Pair that with Dunu’s expertise in making IEMs and knowing what the market wants and needs makes the DaVinci a truly one-of-a-kind experience in and out of listening. There’s a lot to love in the DaVinci, and love it I truly do. Timmy made an IEM that the market really needed and he delivered. And that deserves much respect, especially considering the usual tastes of Timmy. 
Thank you for reading my review of the Dunu x Gizaudio DaVinci. If you would like to order one, consider using the non-affiliated link below: https://hifigo.com/products/dunu-x-gizaudio-davinci