Marcelo reviews the Hidizs MK12 Turris Titanium Edition, a limited-edition 12mm dynamic driver IEM featuring gradient-tinted titanium shells. It is currently priced at $249.00.
Disclaimer: This sample was sent to me in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or status. I thank Hidizs for their support.
Click here to read more about Hidizs products we have previously reviewed on Headfonics
Please note that this article follows our current scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.
Today, I have the limited-edition Hidizs MK12 Turris Gradient-Tint Titanium Alloy Edition, priced at $299 SRP but currently discounted to $249 on the company’s website.
Out of the 499 sets made, I got the number 066, which is only a few numbers away from my favorite number. Aside from that, a certificate card is included that was manually signed by the CEO of Hidizs. Making the set feel even more special and precious.
Hidizs didn’t go boldly by stating that the MK12 Turris Titanium Edition has different tuning from the original MK12 Turris.
They only said the titanium shell not only offers a more stable and transparent sonic signature but also embodies the essence of the MK12’s core design inspiration. This implies the shell alone improved the sound quality over the original MK12 Turris.
Will Hidizs MK12 Turris Titanium Edition deliver on its promise of improved sound over the Original MK12 Turris? Or how will it compare to competitive single dynamic driver IEMs, such as DUNU Falcon Ultra and Twistura Woodnote? Let’s find out.
Features
The MK12 Turris Titanium Edition features a 12mm dynamic driver, with a 91% pure magnesium diaphragm and a powerful motor system that reaches 1.5 Tesla of magnetic strength in the magnet gap, driving the larger-than-usual diaphragm.
Housed in a sleek titanium housing that went through precision CNC-machining and finished with an exclusive gradient-tint coating.
An effective pressure relief system is employed to prevent air pressure in the ear canal, which can cause discomfort, nausea, and a headache in some people.
The MK12 Turris Titanium Edition has an impedance of 32Ω and a sensitivity of 111 dB/mW.
Design
The MK12 Turris Titanium Edition shell design was inspired by the Turritopsis dohrnii jellyfish—nature’s “immortal marvel”. The faceplate looks like the back of a sea creature.
Finished in a color-shifting chameleon paint, the shifts from purple to brown, similar to car paint that changes color depending on the angle at which the light hits. Hidizs calls this a Gradient-Tint finish.
Two cables are included: a 3.5mm and a 4.4mm plug cable alternative. MK12 Turris Titanium Edition features silver-plated twisted pair wire cables crafted from high-purity oxygen-free copper, ensuring low resistance and high conductivity. However, I find the cable to be too thin and prone to tangling.
Comfort & Isolation
Thanks to its ergonomic shape, regular diameter nozzles, and pressure relief system, the MK12 Turris Titanium Edition is comfortable to wear; however, I find the 14.7-gram weight of each shell heavy, especially during walking exercise, which I often do, but it’s not a deal breaker, though.
Isolation is the same as any IEMs with a pressure relief system; some sound gets in, but they are easily masked by the music being played at a moderate volume level.
Packaging & Accessories
The MK12 Turris Titanium Edition’s packaging style is efficient and straightforward. A black box with the IEM photo and some lettering is printed all around. Inside, there is a card certificate which includes the number, mine is 066/499, and the signature of the CEO.
Aside from the cable and IEMs, the accessories also include a pouch bag, a user manual, a warranty card, 9 Pairs of silicone ear tips (Bass/Vocal/Balanced), 3 pairs of HIDIZS tuning filters (High-Frequency/Balanced/Low-Frequency), a HIDIZS budget pin, and a postcard collection.
Sound Impressions
I performed my standard 24-hour burn-in by letting it play with a spare music player for about 8 hours at a time over a couple of days, followed by some critical listening.
For the sources, I used my iBasso DC-Elite and a MUSE HiFi M5 Ultra DAC amplifier with my Android phone, a OnePlus 13. I also used a FiiO M15S DAP, using either UAPP or PowerAmp music player App.
Of the three ear tip types included, I used the wide-bore white tips and the 4.4 mm cable.
Measurements
My measurement of the Hidizs MK12 Turris Titaniuam Edition reveals excellent left-and-right channel matching, indicating high manufacturing quality.
The graph shows the response of the three tuning nozzles, namely the red, gold, and silver. For this review and personal use, I exclusively use the gold nozzles, which feature a moderate upper midrange or pinna gain peak. I find the silver nozzles too peaky and the red nozzles too dark.
Upper midrange or pinna gain peak is essential in IEMs, it helps the sound project defined images and presence of the instruments and vocals, too much of it will make the sound forward, shouty, and fatiguing, too little, and the sound becomes dark and the images become ill-defined
Summary
With its inclusion of three types of nozzles and three types of ear tips, MK12 Turris Titanium Edition offers plenty of sound tuning to choose from.
After extensive listening to various combinations, which involved weeks of trial and error with different nozzle and ear tip combinations, I ultimately chose the gold nozzle and regular bore white-tips combination, as this provides the most neutral, natural, and least colored sound of all the combinations.
The MK12 Turris Titanium Edition offers a moderately V-shaped, warm bass, and slightly relaxed treble sound signature.
That is both musically engaging due to its energetic presentation, yet non-fatiguing due to its tuning and low perceived distortion.
Its combination of warm and bassy lows, crystal-clear midrange, and slightly relaxed, clean, and extended highs facilitates an easy connection between me and the music’s emotional content.
This made the MK12 Turris Titanium Edition both musically engaging and fun to listen to.
Coloration
The MK12 Turris Titanium Edition has the potential to sound colored with other nozzle and tip combinations. However, the combination I use is the least colored of all, based on my hearing.
Most of the time, the coloration I hear is the warmth in the lower midrange, which gives a slight thickness in the instrument note weight.
This is not an obnoxious coloration but rather a pleasant one, thus preventing the MK12 Turris Titanium Edition from sounding cold.
Soundstage
Staging performance also depends on the quality of the source pair, which I will discuss in the pairings section below, as I find the MK12 Turris Titanium Edition to be source-sensitive in this regard.
That said, the MK12 Turris Titanium Edition has a big soundstage that is capable of spherical presentation depending on the paired source.
It may not be the biggest I’ve heard, but it is way above average, thanks to its clean sound, which gives it clean background decay, helping to form a deep soundstage.
Imaging
There is a very good lateral panning, with the distinct images that are floating from left to right and vice versa, without losing definition. The side-to-side separation of the instruments is also good, with clear definition in the edges of the instruments.
Front-to-back layering is good; the center vocals are distinctly placed at the front, with a slightly laid-back presence, and the background instruments are clearly behind the main singer.
Not the most holographic I’ve heard, but MK12 Turris Titanium Edition still gives a sense of holography in imaging.
Dynamics
The MK12 Turris Titanium Edition produces prodigious amounts of bass and dynamics, thanks to its use of a large 12mm dynamic driver with a matching extensive motor system. It can take punishing quantities of power from the source without complaining or losing its composure.
The MK12 Turris Titanium Edition can go so loud, so cleanly and dynamically that my ears would be the ones to give up first before the tuning started to sound ‘distressed’.
I like the energetic sound, especially in the lows, which makes the MK12 Turris Titanium Edition fun to listen to and never dull.
Click on page 2 below for my recommended pairings and selected comparisons.
