::Disclaimer::
MandarinEs provided the Symbio W tips free of charge for the purpose of this review, for good or ill.
The Symbio W tips sell for $15.00
Symbio W on eBay
MandarinEs came out of nowhere very recently with these hybrid tips, combining traditional silicon with a memory foam filling.
When I saw they now had Wide-Bore, I hit them up, begging for samples. I hate tips that pinch the sound with a narrow opening. I won’t use them unless I absolutely must.
What this design gives you is the crisp, full sound of silicon, and the isolation of foam. But that’s not even true. It’s much better. Because the memory foam gives you a better seal, the silicon sounds even fuller than normal. And because it’s silicon on the outside, those soundwaves aren’t getting absorbed by the spongy foam of other tips. Working together, the isolation is superior to either philosophy on its own.
Have these MandarinEs Sybio W replaced my old favorite, the JVC Spiral Dots? Only time will tell. I can say there are two IEMs which are working beautifully with these tips: 64Audio U12, and the HiFiMAN RE800. The fit is great, and the sound is indeed improved by a noticeable degree.
What can I say? Pinky approves! These tips are fantastic.
-~::Pinky_Powers::~-
One Response
Concise and to the point. Thanks for not rambling on 🙂 I agree with you, these tips are really nice.