The Titan S2 is the very cool looking new single dynamic driver IEM from DUNU, one of my favorite Chinese brands for in-ear monitors. The updated Titan S2 shares a similar design to the original Titan S but with a very spectacular design update that features a mirror-like chrome finish and a single red dot in the center of its shell that makes this a stand-out looking design.
The Titan S2 is $79.99 on HifiGo (https://hifigo.com/products/dunu-titan-s2). This product was provided as a review sample by HifiGo.
The Titan S2 uses a dual chamber dynamic driver that is somewhat unique to the products I have reviewed in the past. In addition, it comes with a plentiful set of accessories that is wonderful, especially at the target price point.
Dunu includes a zippered soft case, and a series of 4 different types of tips in all sizes. This is way more than most IEMs I've seen include. Finally, the new Dunu cable is well designed for lightweight, ergonomics and generally use.
The cable is a light gray color with a fabric sheathing from the source connector end to the splitter. At the split, the fabric goes away and the 4-wires are split into 2 wires for each of the left and right channels that terminate in a 2-pin design. The cable features Dunu's Q-Lock modular connector system and included in the box are 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced connectors. Unlike prior DUNU modular connectors, this new style is a straight plug, and not a 90-degree L plug. In this specific case, I prefer the straight plus a lot more as it is more compact and blends into the cable a lot better than the older design.
Sound Impressions
The Dunu Titan S2 has a tonality that I would consider slightly warmer than neutral, with a lightly elevated bass range, lightly dipped midrange, and a lightly bright treble with decent extension. And if you don't get this by now, I would consider this a lightly warm tuning. This is more like an IEM I would have heard from years past, and not something that is similar to the more recent flavors of the week variety we have today, which follow many reviewer targets like mine. Perhaps calling it a modern and gentle diffuse-field would be appropriate.
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The bass range is fairly well-controlled and tight, but does lack quantity and meat at times. It does not necessarily lack bass. I would just prefer a little more to emphasize bass guitars and their strong decay. That said, this tuning works for string orchestras fairly well, as long as you don't care too much about the power of a stand-up bass. The dynamic range is good for this type of music.
The midrange is what i consider neutral, with no real mid-range portion standing over the other, and the focus is definitely more in the treble range, where it's slightly brighter than my preferences, but I would still consider neutral to neutral-bright.
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When listening to the Titan S2 with some select tracks on my Sony ZX-707 digital audio player, I found that the S2 sounded well with orchestral and acoustic music and less desirable with rock music due to its lack of bass and a higher lower-treble region that I find a tad bright and lean at times. While it's not necessarily fatiguing to me, I can see that it might be for some users.
Final Thoughts
The Titan S2 is a neutral and lean sounding product and one I probably would have enjoyed more a few years back, before I became a bass-enjoying musichead. DUNU includes a great accessory package and their new cable is wonderful to use. In general, despite my criticism of its leaner sounding tonality than the vast majority of recent releases out there, this does have a more neutral sound that hasn't been as readily available in the more recent past from the major players in the chi-fi space, and it is something that does sound "different" than what is available, albeit, very minimally.
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