AILIHEN M10 – Review

AILIHEN M10

 AILIHEN M10

| 10 mm Driver | Neodymium Magnet |



? AILIHEN M10, an aluminum alloy earphone with CNC engraving and stylish clean design. The AILIHEN M10 are part of the metal M series of the brand among which you can find the AILIHEN M9 and the AILIHEN M8.

Maybe you had not heard of the brand before but AILIHEN has been in the market for more than 10 years exclusively manufacturing headphones, Bluetooth speakers and earphones. To this day they have a fair variety of earphones available in their catalog (for example the sports styled AILIHEN X2), all these facts make the AILIHEN M10 a worthy earphone to be tested and reviewed by our team.

The AILIHEN M10 have solidly built metal housings with a bullet form factor (a design well-known for their great comfort and fit), the aesthetics of the earpieces are smooth and premium looking. Despite the robust quality of the housings the overall weight remains light and results in a non-fatiguing wearing experience.

The cable has an effective construction that we have seen in the past on much more expensive earphones with a 2-type cable being used. The first section of the cable that goes from the 3.5 mm plug up to the cable bifurcation is braided and the remaining section after the bifurcation is rubberized. This half-braided half-rubberized cable design has proved to offer a valuable level of anti-tangling performance on our past reviews. On the cable corresponding to the right earpiece you will find an inline microphone and 1-button control that allows you to play/pause music with a single press, skip track with a 2 button-press, go back to the previous track with a 3 button-press and answer/reject calls with a single press. The cable bifurcation section, mic/control and stereo plug section are also constructed with the same solid aluminum alloy material as the housings and share the same aesthetics and finish.

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AILIHEN M10 - Review

Tests & Scores

W

Weight

 

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A

Accessories & Packaging

The AILIHEN M10 come packed inside a hard packaging that can be used to storage the earphones too. After opening the packaging you will find a nice sturdy hard carrying case, 2 pair of silicon eartips (plus one pair of eartips with a translucent black and inner red that are already placed on the earpieces) and a cable clip.

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AILIHEN M10 - Accessories
AILIHEN M10 – Accessories

B

Bass & Sub Bass

Bass of the AILIHEN M10 has good mid-bass punch that adds body and fun to the music while not sounding boomy or boosted at all, sub-bass has enough depth to fulfill normal genres without sounding invasive yet not anemic either. The bass profile has a balanced and not exaggerated style. People enjoying the right amount of bass, without being overdone or stepping over the whole sound signature will be happy with the bass coming from the 10mm dynamic driver of the AILIHEN M10.

An EQ gives the AILIHEN M10 a total makeover of their bass personality turning into a punchy sounding earphone but most of all sub-bass gains a huge amount of depth.

During our extreme basshead tests, the AILIHEN M10 took up to 52% of a Fiio E12 Mont Blanc amplifier‘s maximum power (while setting it to high gain mode, bass boost turned on and with a custom basshead EQ applied). Rumble and impact started to show up after surpassing 50% of Fiio’s power, below that level rumble will not arise; at the same time sub-bass starts to get crazy deep once you get above that 50% level of amplification. Overall they did not reach a full basshead impact or rumble but their sub-bass was not far away from becoming one. As we always say, a higher score in our bass/sub-bass section does not necessarily represents a stronger bass response; sometimes it might but on other occasions it reflects a balanced or well achieved bass response. In the case of the AILIHEN M10 they are getting an 7.75/10 for their not overdone yet strong enough bass and for their bass versatility due to their capacity to switch from a balanced bass response into a strongly deep bass by applying a custom sub-bass EQ.

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AILIHEN M10
AILIHEN M10

M

Mids & Vocals

Mids of the AILIHEN M10 are clear and they do not sound tinny, boxy or thin. Lower mids have the right amount of warmth and are free of mid-bass bleed. Higher mids sound crisp and are not rolled off or recessed but at times of very strong peaks some harshness could be felt; nothing that should be a problem for non-treble sensitive people. An EQ can be used to spice up the lower mids a bit and they will respond well, higher mids should not be EQed up as they are already clear and crisp and if overdone you are tempting the appearance of harsher peaks; we would even recommend equalizing down just a notch the frequencies on the +/-3 kHz, around -3 dB is enough and the harsh peaks will get highly reduced.

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H

Highs & Treble

Highs have good brightness without sounding excessive; regarding detail, they are able to resolve a bit. Sibilance can be heard with sibilant prone songs, piercing highs can be perceived with high peaks. With an EQ, a very noticeable amount of detail is added, piercing highs do not get too stronger than before and some added brightness is gained.

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AILIHEN M10
AILIHEN M10

SL

Sound Leak

The sound that leaks out of the AILIHEN M10 remains under control while using a moderate volume, even while utilizing a high volume they will provide enough contained sound leaking levels as to be perfectly usable on normal city situations. Overall, in this matter, their performance is better than many average earphones.

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SI

Sound Isolation

Their noise isolation is substantially above most average earphones, with their metal housings and tight fit they are able to clearly reduce the noise levels of your surroundings even if a moderate audio level is set.

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C

Comfort

The combination of their form factor, size and weight gives the AILIHEN M10 a very comfortable and snug fit that will never risk falling off from your ears. At the same time, they do not get uncomfortable nor generate pain on the inner ear sections, in fact, you can use it for hours and will almost forget that you are wearing them.

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EQ

Response to Equalization

Mids could be fine tuned to empower lower vocals and reduce harshness on higher mids; highs while not remaining free of piercing or sibilant highs were still able to add a noticeable amount of detail and some extra brightness. The audio frequency that is mostly leveling up the average in this category corresponds to bass and most of all sub-bass because a correctly applied and customized EQ for sub-bass will make the AILIHEN M10 transform from a controlled and balanced bass sound signature into a strongly deep sub-bass sounding earphone and gives them the chance to change from one bass style to another by simply applying the right EQ for sub-bass.

gramophone-256607.75/10

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Scores Scores

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Frequency Response (raw)

AILIHEN M10 Frequency Response

AILIHEN M10 - Frequency Response
AILIHEN M10 – Frequency Response


AILIHEN M10

Specifications

TypeDynamic
Driver Unit10 mm Driver
Sensitivity93 dB
Power Capacity3 mW
ImpedanceN/A
Frequency Response20-20,000 Hz
DiaphragmN/A
MagnetNeodymium
CordY-type, round cord; braided and rubberized
Cord Length1.25 m
PlugStereo mini plug
WeightApprox. 15g
Supplied Accessories3x Earphone tips; cable clip; hard carrying case

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Photos
DISCLAIMER
We highly discourage anyone from trying to apply our testings to your own earphones, the risk of damaging or permanently breaking your iems is absolutely probable to happen. With our standardized equalization and amplification tests we push the limits of the earphones to the extreme. If anyway you decide to do so, we cannot be held responsible of the damage done to your equipment. Do it at your own risk.

AILIHEN M10

8

SCORE

8.0/10