Thieaudio Hype 4

These iems are amazing.

Impeccable service at hangout, and for the IEM itself, love the relatively neutral sound signature. As I'm not a basshead nor do I like an overly warm signature, I like the subtle increase in sub bass, keeping the overall mix clean and detail-focused. Not the most ideal bass presentation overall but happy enough with it. Beautiful shell aesthetic, only real drawback is the size of the IEM, make sure you deno it and see if you can get a good fit before buying.

The sound of these are great, but I would say that I can’t really tell too much of a difference between them and my Simgot EM6L’s. The provided ear tips are not too great for small ears, and I had to get some spinfit ones to properly fit my ears

They are also quite large iems, so they sag a little bit even when fully in your ears and kind of weigh on the cartilage of your ears.

I was somewhat underwhelmed by the Hype 4 when I first got them and put them on. They sounded great, don't get me wrong, but just, not as big a jump in perceived sound quality as I'd been hoping for, coming from the position of having a lot of experience with IEMs in the $200-300 range. But diminishing returns is a serious thing with IEMs, and you should never expect $400 IEMs to be "twice as good" as a pair that costs $200. They can still be worth the premium, of course, but you really need to temper your expectations with IEMs in this price bracket.

But after a few weeks I keep finding myself coming back to the Hype 4, and I've started to understand what sets them apart and makes them worth $400. And at this point I can confidently say:

Yes, these are fantastic IEMs. If you're considering them and don't automatically wince at the price, just buy them. I doubt many people could be truly disappointed with the Hype 4.

Let's start with the tuning: the Hype 4 are sometimes called "V-shaped," but that's really not accurate at all. They're actually pretty close to the neutral "new meta" tuning, just with a bass shelf and a couple of treble peaks. Take a look at a graph and compare them to something like the Thieaudio Monarch Mk2 or Kiwi Ears KE4, both renowned for being pretty dang close to a perfect "new meta" tuning. The Hype 4 are tuned VERY similarly to the Monarch Mk2 - just with more bass emphasis. So I would call them fairly neutral-warm overall.

If you like bass, these will probably make you very happy, unless you're just an absolute bass nut or something. You can only push bass so far with IEMs before it sounds totally muddy - the Hype 4 nail it, imo. Bass is warm, full, punchy, natural, and CLEAR. There is a distinct separation between sub-bass, bass, and lower mids, and that's what you want with any IEM, really. You really FEEL bass drum hits or 808s. And yet, those "boomier," punchier sounds don't drown out the bass guitar or synth or anything else in that lower range. It all just works together perfectly. On really well-recorded tracks, the bass emphasis of the Hype 4 really helps sell the feeling of "space" and three-dimensionality.

Mids are crystal clear and neither over- nor under-emphasized. Vocals are very clear and distinct, very "forward," so to speak, but they are almost never shouty or piercing. Treble is very pleasant - I really despise IEMs with over-emphasized treble, as it almost always sounds shouty, piercing, and fatiguing to my ears. The Hype 4 gets treble right, at least for me. It's cranked up just enough to create that feeling of "detail" and "headspace" while never really overwhelming the mids or hurting my ears.

Soundstage is a very subjective thing, and frankly I don't think it's as REAL a thing as the audiophile community seems to believe it is. As such, I don't really like to talk about soundstage when reviewing IEMs. All I'll say for the Hype 4 in this area is that they feel very spacious.

Imaging, on the other hand, is very much a real thing, and tends to not get enough focus in reviews. The Hype 4 have pretty good imaging. Not the best I've ever heard, but far from the worst. In most cases, the Hype 4 present individual instruments and voices very clearly and distinctly from one another. The fact of the matter is, some songs are just poorly produced, and neither the Hype 4 nor any other IEM can pull distinct images out of mud. But on well-engineered tracks, imaging is very good, especially considering their bass-emphasized tuning.

Comfort is also subjective. I find the Hype 4 to be perfectly comfortable in my ears over long periods of time. But they are big, so if you have small ears, these may be too much for you. They're far from the biggest out there, mind you. I would think the vast majority of people could use them comfortably with the right tips.

The cable is fine. I replaced it with a Tripowin cable purely for aesthetics. Oh, speaking of aesthetics, they look really nice. I bought the white/pink/purple sparkly ones and they look and feel very premium.

All in all, I think the Hype 4 are excellent neutral-warm IEMs and an easy "blind buy" recommendation. I think they're worth the price - they're not "twice as good" as the KE4s, for example, but that extra $200 really does get you another level of clarity and spaciousness. To me, that's worth the premium.

Post-Script: After writing this review, I got the DUNU x Gizaudio DaVinci, and I've been spending time with them and even left a review on their product page as well. Comparing the Hype 4 and the DaVinci is practically unavoidable. They're both 2DD 4BA, they're both "bass focused," and they're both fairly restrained in the treble range, but the Hype 4 are a little less treble-recessed. Therefore they have slightly superior detail retrieval than the DaVincis. That being said, I REALLY like the DaVincis as well and think that either one is an excellent buy. If you can afford $300 but ...

A few days after testing the Hype4 at TheHangout, I purchased them, and I've been using them for over a month now. I love them!
The sound quality is great. The audio is very detailed, bass is present but without overpowering other frequencies, instrument separation is great, and they sound open and clean. All this makes the whole listening experience super fun. Also, the blue-pink shells are AWESOME, I'm very glad I chose these.
However, the shells are medium-big size, and during my first week, the fit felt off after a few hours of use. It did improve over time, though they're at the upper limit for me. If you have tiny ears, this might be an issue. For anyone visiting TheHangout, pay attention to both sound quality and comfort. This might sound obvious, but I did stay for many hours, and I didn't notice that some of the IEMs were too big for me. So before buying, use them for at least 15 minutes without taking them off.


My experience at TheHangout was great. Thanks Cazper for recommending me the Hype4 and Axel for assisting me during the purchase ;D
Overall, these IEMs sound very CLEAR and FUN. I'm really glad I purchased them from my favorite spot in Singapore.
Best of luck making this project grow!