Mangird is a brand that sometimes flies under the radar compared to some of the other higher-profile brands out of China. Nonetheless, they have developed a cult following with the Tea, a tonality focused hybrid IEM. Xenns, likewise, has seen great success with the Up for being a refreshing and engaging entry into the tribrid market. These two companies have now merged into one company, Xenns Mangird, and the Top is their second foray, following the relatively subdued success of the Tea 2. Many have likened the Top to a competitor to the Variations, a tribrid IEM from Moondrop that has been regarded as one of the best mid-fi IEMs since its release a couple years ago – how does this new 1DD, 8BA hybrid IEM stack up?
Pros:
Very engaging and fun
Build quality is among the best
While on the larger shell size, fit is great
Imaging and Separation are superb
Boomy but controlled bass
Quite good textured sound
Very good noteweight
Well extended but very smooth treble
Cons:
Tiny bit of driver flex
Not really a con but those of you looking for less bass may wish to look elsewhere
Disclaimer – I bought these for full price on my own and these thoughts are solely my own!
Build and Accessories– The Xenns Mangird Top is among the better-built IEMs I’ve handled. It has a standard black plastic shell, as you’d find with many hybrids and tribrids in the price range, topped off with an interesting faceplate. Aesthetically it is unoffensive and unassuming. The 2pin connectors are flush and well-anchored. The size of the shell is on the larger size but is very ergonomic and posed no fit issues. The nozzle is a standard metal nozzle, neither thick nor thin. As for accessories, the Top comes fully kitted out with multiple storage/carrying options, ample tips, and one of my favorite stock cables ever! The cable is soft, light, and well behaved, and has one of the best modular connectors I’ve seen – I almost didn’t realize it was modular until I saw the extra connections in the box. There is a tiny bit of driver flex on insertion due to the snug fit but it poses no issues otherwise.
Overall Sound – I’d describe the Xenns Top as an improved Harman signature – quite similar to the Moondrop Variations, which was a dead ringer for the Harman curve. The Top takes that and tweaks just right to address some quibbles. Good bass shelf sloped down into the mids at the right time to prevent bleed, lush and clear mids, and treble that is both smooth and very well extended.
Bass – With a low-end powered by a capable 10mm beryllium coated dynamic driver, the Mangird Xenns Top is quite the capable bass performer. The Top has a fairly elevated but flat bass shelf that tapers down into the mids at about 250-300hz. Where a lot of IEMs are tuned sub-bass over mid-bass, this flat bass shelf lends to the Top having a much more natural and yet authoritative bass response – it slams and punches on demand but due to where it tapers off, it also manages to be quite well controlled. But it’s not just quantity either, the bass is textured and layered – I have no nitpicks here regarding quality. This is among the best bass I’ve heard on any IEM! Compared to the Moondrop Variations, there is more clarity and body to the bass. They both have a subwoofer-like quality to the presentation but the Top pulls ahead in clarity and body where the Variations’ bass can sometimes sound a bit loose and uncontrolled. Needless to say, these have very good bass that toe the line of boomy but it never bleeds into the mids and doesn’t detract from clarity at all! The Top takes the win for me here.
Mids – My main qualm with the Moondrop Variations was that it had fairly thin-sounding mids. While very technical, the Variations often sounded clinical and dry to me – frankly, they were boring to a fault. Those of you who know me might already know that I’ve owned the Moondrop Variations three times – but I have also sold it three times – I was drawn to the sheer resolution and technicalities that the Variations offered at the price point but I was turned away time and time again due to the thinner mids and the dipped midbass/lower mids. The Top fixes this problem. The bass shelf extending a bit further up the frequency response adds a good amount of noteweight and body to the sound. The tonality, as a result, is much more natural sounding, and the timbre is improved. The Variations might win in perceived clarity because generally thinner and more clinical note weight can often make details and separation more immediately clear, but the Top doesn’t lose out in actual clarity and precision. Vocals are nice and full and very articulate. Instruments are precise and natural sounding. Again, Top takes the win here.
Treble – The treble response of the Variations was a hit or miss for some folks, and due to the upper-mid to lower-treble response, some people found the Variations to be a little shouty. I personally didn’t have any issues with the Variations in this regard but the elevated upper-mids/lower-treble tuning of the Variations definitely added to the clinical character. The Top takes a different approach here, toning down and smoothing out the shout region to make it more palatable, and improves the treble extension which adds nice sparkle and air. Overall, the treble response is more natural sounding than the Variations. Timbre is great. Crisp sound without harshness. Cymbal strikes are clear but not sibilant, for example.
Techs – Very good detail retrieval – the Variations is often called the most resolving IEM up to kilobucks and I think the Top comes close to that (if not matches that). The soundstage is wide and deep, and the imaging and separation are great as well! Timbre is very good.
Closing thoughts – The Variations has been a revered stalwart in the IEM pantheon since its release for a good reason. It is still among the most resolving IEMs available under $1000. But it leans clinical and boring, and the mid-bass/lower-mid dip on some units (I say “some” because, reportedly, the variance between Variations – pun not intended – was large enough that some didn’t have deep midbass dips) resulted in less-than-stellar male vocals, bass guitar, kick drums. The Top keeps the resolution of the Variations but adds in a decent amount of note weight, tweaks the formula just right, making this a much more engaging and fun IEM to listen to. The title of this review is Variations with Soul – and I think this sums it up quite well – the Variations is an undeniably capable technical performer, but the Top retains the same technical DNA but sprinkles a bit of soul on top that really gets my head bopping! If you don’t already have the Moondrop Variations and are considering an IEM that price range, I’d unequivocally recommend the Xenns Mangird Top as one of the best if not the absolute “top” choice! Kudos to Xenns Mangird for knocking it out of the park! The Top is sitting near the top of my preference list at the time of this writing!
