Posted by Pros: Comfortable for long sessions
Safe, enjoyable tuning
Good bass response – it’s present and engaging but not overpowering
Vocals esp male vocals shine on this set with weight and natural timbre
Great imaging
Nozzles for tuning to one’s liking
Safe, enjoyable tuning
Good bass response – it’s present and engaging but not overpowering
Vocals esp male vocals shine on this set with weight and natural timbre
Great imaging
Nozzles for tuning to one’s liking
Cons: Modular cable would be nice at this price point
I’m not a fan of the character theme but that’s just me
The case is rather flimsy
Details retrieval not the best
Spice on the treble needs tip rolling and source rolling
I’m not a fan of the character theme but that’s just me
The case is rather flimsy
Details retrieval not the best
Spice on the treble needs tip rolling and source rolling
Waifus terrify me
Largely because I’ve no clue what they are doing on a piece of audio equipment. That being said I love the kima 2 without knowing what or who kima is or was… so may be I should just focus on the sound.
The Hidizs My Lin is a 1 Dynamic Driver and 1 Balanced Armature hybrid that retails in the vicinity of $100 on good days and a little higher when not on sale. This unit comes courtesy @SushiiFi and I and I am grateful to him and to Hidizs for letting me spend some time with this and reviewing it. I am however captain of my ship and master of my fate and all that and will speak my mind.
The unboxing is elaborate and the box has the aforementioned waifu emblazoned on the surface and to be fair my curiosity was piqued enough to do some reading and this is what I found –
“It’s LIN (Ruo Xue Lin), the character behind MY LIN. She isn’t just a cool mascot — she’s the heart and soul of MY LIN. Lin embodies more than just an IEMs; she represents the kind of sound that feels personal and stays with you through every moment. Her presence is a reflection of MY LIN’s philosophy — a sound that strikes the perfect balance of clarity, warmth, and comfort wearing. Think of Lin as your guide to immersive, emotionally connected audio — never aggressive, always comforting and laid-back.”
That being said I own the AP80 Pro Max which is like for its ease of both use and pocketability and the MK12 Turris is up there in the list of the most enjoyable single DD IEMs I’ve heard (that’s a hint, if the universe is listening) and The My Lin has piqued my curiosity as much as the MP145 Pro which I am on the look out for.
But I digress, on opening the box lie the IEMs surrounded by all the tips that the set comes with which are 3 pairs each of bass and balanced. And then there are the multitude of Lin themed swag, not limited to a cleaning cloth, stickers and a desktop stand thingy. It is cute but not my thing. The cable unfortunately comes only as 3.5 OR 4.4 terminations.
The shells however are a smooth Chicago Bean style curved metal affairs which are very comfortable with carbon fibre face plates with a really nice internal design.
The nozzles come off to be replaced by other nozzles and in typical Hidizs style – you have balanced, bassy and trebely ones (red, black and white).
For the most part I stuck to the red and black because I really cannot handle a lot of treble.
Tested the My Lin on an AP80 ProMax (because why not), Shanling UA1 ii, Onix Beta, VE Prime stack, and my (new) gremlin-merlin stack, Schitt Vestri .
Velvet tips and Candy for this set were the tips of choice.
TLDR – For the most part the My Lin sticks to a safe, engaging tuning. The nozzles make a difference. I don’t like the BA sound that creeps in the upper mids but it is track dependent. I like the Turris more.
Bass
The bass on the My Lin is meant to support the music, not lift it up on a pedestal. It has an engaging rumble and kicks and bass notes have weight but also have a decay and on really busy bass tracks with a lot of double bass work that lack of resolution becomes apparent. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, unless details are all that matter in which case this isn’t the set. The interplay of sub bass and mid bass in both Angel by Massive Attack and Islands by The XX is clearly heard and enjoyable but changing gears and moving to Dance of Eternity by Dream Theater, the double bass work that maketh Mike Portnoy sounds a little muddled with each kick not being clearly separated from the next. The bass stays in its lane though and despite the dynamic driver and does not spillover into the mids and muddy the mix.
Mids
On the balanced red nozzles the lower mids sound good. Male voices and baritone and tenor instruments carry weight and the entire vocal chorus on the track is natural and engaging to listen to, but as Paul Simon starts singing on Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, the BA makes its presence felt and not necessary in a good way. Similarly on Radio Song by Esperaza Spalding the upper mids suffer a little bit with the BA timbre and a touch of sibiliance. The resolution also falters here with things sounding congested. Both Norah Jones and Tracy Chapman sound shouty in parts with the red nozzles. The black nozzles enhance the low end just a little but do little to tame the BA timbre or the sibilance. This definitely gets worse with scaling the volume. But swapping to a decidedly warm source helps quite a bit. Both on the Gremlin and the Onix beta with tube mode and the Vestri these got tamed significantly and the aforementioned songs became a lot nicer to listen to.
Treble
The treble on the My Lin is an extension of the upper mids. There is air shimmer and all that but it takes some effort to control the sibilance. I think the black nozzles work for the most aggressively recorded tracks – modern pop, the thriller album, for example. The crash on Dreams is shimmery but enjoyable on the unholy combination of the Vestri, black nozzles and the narrow bore velvets. The same combination makes Human Nature by Michael Jackson teeter on the edge of what I can tolerate. Because we are scientists we ran the same songs through a VE Prime (neutral), white nozzles (bright) and wide bore tips. And yes, every part of the signal chain is imperative in what sound comes out the other end. And no I did not enjoy that combination.
Staging, imaging and technicalities
Now, Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa is an exercise in imaging and the Hidizs My Lin actually performs really well on it with being able to precisely identify where the sounds are coming from. This is however in a small to medium room and not an arena due to its moderate stage width. In the words of Shakespeare – ‘tis not wide as a church door nor deep as a well, ‘tis right, ‘twill do. With separation and resolution I think there are better options for clinically accurate separation and layering but I also do not believe that the Hidizs My Lin is aiming for those awards. It is a set to enjoy music, and for that it does a great job.
Largely because I’ve no clue what they are doing on a piece of audio equipment. That being said I love the kima 2 without knowing what or who kima is or was… so may be I should just focus on the sound.
The Hidizs My Lin is a 1 Dynamic Driver and 1 Balanced Armature hybrid that retails in the vicinity of $100 on good days and a little higher when not on sale. This unit comes courtesy @SushiiFi and I and I am grateful to him and to Hidizs for letting me spend some time with this and reviewing it. I am however captain of my ship and master of my fate and all that and will speak my mind.
The unboxing is elaborate and the box has the aforementioned waifu emblazoned on the surface and to be fair my curiosity was piqued enough to do some reading and this is what I found –
“It’s LIN (Ruo Xue Lin), the character behind MY LIN. She isn’t just a cool mascot — she’s the heart and soul of MY LIN. Lin embodies more than just an IEMs; she represents the kind of sound that feels personal and stays with you through every moment. Her presence is a reflection of MY LIN’s philosophy — a sound that strikes the perfect balance of clarity, warmth, and comfort wearing. Think of Lin as your guide to immersive, emotionally connected audio — never aggressive, always comforting and laid-back.”
That being said I own the AP80 Pro Max which is like for its ease of both use and pocketability and the MK12 Turris is up there in the list of the most enjoyable single DD IEMs I’ve heard (that’s a hint, if the universe is listening) and The My Lin has piqued my curiosity as much as the MP145 Pro which I am on the look out for.
But I digress, on opening the box lie the IEMs surrounded by all the tips that the set comes with which are 3 pairs each of bass and balanced. And then there are the multitude of Lin themed swag, not limited to a cleaning cloth, stickers and a desktop stand thingy. It is cute but not my thing. The cable unfortunately comes only as 3.5 OR 4.4 terminations.
The shells however are a smooth Chicago Bean style curved metal affairs which are very comfortable with carbon fibre face plates with a really nice internal design.
The nozzles come off to be replaced by other nozzles and in typical Hidizs style – you have balanced, bassy and trebely ones (red, black and white).
For the most part I stuck to the red and black because I really cannot handle a lot of treble.
Tested the My Lin on an AP80 ProMax (because why not), Shanling UA1 ii, Onix Beta, VE Prime stack, and my (new) gremlin-merlin stack, Schitt Vestri .
Velvet tips and Candy for this set were the tips of choice.
TLDR – For the most part the My Lin sticks to a safe, engaging tuning. The nozzles make a difference. I don’t like the BA sound that creeps in the upper mids but it is track dependent. I like the Turris more.
Bass
The bass on the My Lin is meant to support the music, not lift it up on a pedestal. It has an engaging rumble and kicks and bass notes have weight but also have a decay and on really busy bass tracks with a lot of double bass work that lack of resolution becomes apparent. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, unless details are all that matter in which case this isn’t the set. The interplay of sub bass and mid bass in both Angel by Massive Attack and Islands by The XX is clearly heard and enjoyable but changing gears and moving to Dance of Eternity by Dream Theater, the double bass work that maketh Mike Portnoy sounds a little muddled with each kick not being clearly separated from the next. The bass stays in its lane though and despite the dynamic driver and does not spillover into the mids and muddy the mix.
Mids
On the balanced red nozzles the lower mids sound good. Male voices and baritone and tenor instruments carry weight and the entire vocal chorus on the track is natural and engaging to listen to, but as Paul Simon starts singing on Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, the BA makes its presence felt and not necessary in a good way. Similarly on Radio Song by Esperaza Spalding the upper mids suffer a little bit with the BA timbre and a touch of sibiliance. The resolution also falters here with things sounding congested. Both Norah Jones and Tracy Chapman sound shouty in parts with the red nozzles. The black nozzles enhance the low end just a little but do little to tame the BA timbre or the sibilance. This definitely gets worse with scaling the volume. But swapping to a decidedly warm source helps quite a bit. Both on the Gremlin and the Onix beta with tube mode and the Vestri these got tamed significantly and the aforementioned songs became a lot nicer to listen to.
Treble
The treble on the My Lin is an extension of the upper mids. There is air shimmer and all that but it takes some effort to control the sibilance. I think the black nozzles work for the most aggressively recorded tracks – modern pop, the thriller album, for example. The crash on Dreams is shimmery but enjoyable on the unholy combination of the Vestri, black nozzles and the narrow bore velvets. The same combination makes Human Nature by Michael Jackson teeter on the edge of what I can tolerate. Because we are scientists we ran the same songs through a VE Prime (neutral), white nozzles (bright) and wide bore tips. And yes, every part of the signal chain is imperative in what sound comes out the other end. And no I did not enjoy that combination.
Staging, imaging and technicalities
Now, Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa is an exercise in imaging and the Hidizs My Lin actually performs really well on it with being able to precisely identify where the sounds are coming from. This is however in a small to medium room and not an arena due to its moderate stage width. In the words of Shakespeare – ‘tis not wide as a church door nor deep as a well, ‘tis right, ‘twill do. With separation and resolution I think there are better options for clinically accurate separation and layering but I also do not believe that the Hidizs My Lin is aiming for those awards. It is a set to enjoy music, and for that it does a great job.