Pros: Overall sound quality, accessories, design, comfort, price
Cons: Isolation, sound leakage, bass orientated sound signature

Packaging & Accessories: 9.5/10
Build Quality: 10/10
Design & Look: 10/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 8.5/10
Isolation: 7.5/10
Comfort: 9/10
Audio Quality: 9/10
Value: 10/10
My final Rating: 10/10

Purchase Date: March 2016
Purchase Price: £100

First of all I would like to thank DUNU for sending me the Titan 5 for review. After having reviewed their younger brothers the DUNU Titan 1 and also having heard the extremely impressive DUNU DN-2000, I was very intrigued to hear the DUNU Titan 5. As a note the Titan 1 and DN-2000 in their respective price points (and above) are one of my most recommended earphones. Due to the pure bang for buck you get for them, there’s barely many better earphones that these two, so I wanted to see if the Titan 5 would dethrone the Titan 1 or even give the DN-2000 a run for their money!

The Titan 5 can be purchased from AmazonUK for around £100 and AmazonUSA for $135.

Here’s my video review of the Titan 5:

Now let’s get to the written review!

Packaging & Accessories

The packaging looks fantastic and the contents, like its younger brother the Titan 1 is sensational!
There’s a vast array of accessories included:

• Titan 5 with a cable tie
• S, M, L silicone tips with red stem
• S, M, L Sony-esk silicone tips
• Silicone ear hooks
• Shirt clip
• 1/4″ adapter
• Hard carrying case
• Warranty card

The contents are vast and almost perfect. The only thing I would have liked to see on-top would have been some foam tips and a soft carrying pouch, just as my request was with the Titan 1 which were missing these items too.

The carrying case is nice, on one side it has a glossy look, where you could even use it as a mirror and on the other, it has a rubber material which prevents it from sliding around.
The case itself is also secured by a locking mechanism, meaning you can safely place your earphones.

The difference between the Titan 1 package contents is the fact that the Titan 5 doesn’t have set of normal silicone tips included, but has soft silicone ear hooks, which help take off the weight of the earphones within your ears.

Overall I was yet again impressed by the overall packaging by DUNU.

Build Quality

The build quality is flawless, there’s nothing I could really pick out in terms of improvements, as DUNU have really gone back to the drawing board and improved the problems I initially had with the Titan 1.

The Titan 5 is terminated by a right-angled gold-plated 3.5mm jack, and the cable is now fully made out of rubber, which unlike the Titan 1 which was made out of a fabric material and rubber, means that the Titan 5 doesn’t get as easily tangled and also has slightly better microphonics. This means the cable noise is slightly less on the Titan 5!

The earphones can be worn both straight down (where I would suggest the use of the ear hooks, due to their weight) or over-the-ear without the ear hooks installed. Speaking of its weight, I found the earphones well built, as their fully metal construction is well made and complements the build quality of the earphones. This does slightly affect the comfort, which I’ll get to later in this review.

The biggest difference for me is the fact that the Titan 5 come with a removable cable. This is a major step for DUNU in the under £100 earphone range, as it really sets out the benchmark for other manufacturers to start adopting a similar design. The removable cable isn’t something new, but to see it in a sub £100 earphone is really refreshing to see. This will increase the life span of the earphone and also help you if you wish to change the stock cable!

Finally the earphones have a little number 5 written on their housing, but it’s a shame that we don’t see a return of the red and blue colouring for the side indicator. Due to the earphones’ shape and the fact that you can have a ear hook on them, it should be pretty obvious which side is which, but I would have still liked to see the red and blue colouring option. The indicator is now on the housing itself and is quite hard to see, even in good lighting conditions!

Even though I would have like to see the red and blue colouring scheme for the side indicators, I still feel the build quality is an improvement over the Titan 1 and DUNU have really produced a sensational built-earphone here!

Design, looks, comfort and isolation

Looks:
The looks of the earphones is nice, but with their ear hooks do look kind of funky. Either way, due to the metal housing the earphone looks fantastic in my eyes and its overall design is well-thought out, with the protruding number 5 shining through on the side of the earphones!

Isolation:
The isolation of the earphones are slightly improved over the Titan 1, where they isolate a slight bit better, but still aren’t fantastic. There is still a slight bit of noise leakage at higher volumes, which could annoy a few people.

Comfort:
The earphones are comfortable with their ear hooks, however without them included the Titan 5 is heavier than the already heavy Titan 1’s and therefore feel uncomfortable. Of course you can, just like with the Titan 1s, use them over-the-ear in order to take the majority of the weight off your ears.  How you wish to use them is up to you, in my case, I’ve been using them with the ear hooks, which I find perfect, as they feel more sturdy in my ears and slightly more comfortable than wearing over-the-ear!

 

Sound Quality

Now the Titan 1 was vastly impressive, and for under £200 I think it’s one of the best sounding earphones you can buy (but at a cool £90 price tag!), As we move up, there’s many more earphones, including the sensational DN-2000s which are one of the best high-end earphones I’ve ever come across, giving the likes of the Phonak Audéo PFE 232 and even the monstrously expensive AKG K3003i a run for their money!

Now the Titan 5 has come in with dynamic driver, as with the Titan 1, but it’s made with a titanium diaphragm. Sounds great on paper, but what does that actually mean or do?

Well to my ears the Titan 5 have a slightly different soundstage representation, whereby the sound is a little more open and has a little more space to breathe. It’s a hard sound signature to describe, but it feels a little more refined and somewhat classy? Let’s get into each section!

On a separate note, I found the Titan 5 slightly easier to drive over the Titan 1s.

Lows:
Over the Titan 1s, the Titan 5s improve on the low end quality and quantity. The Titan 5 has a much harder hitting mid-bass, whilst the sub-bass extend just that little bit more, providing an impressive sub-bass extension, one of the best I’ve heard in an earphone. However, due to the sheer quantity of mid-bass slam, it might not suit everyone’s tastes. I found the Titan 1 quite perfect in their quantity of mid-bass, but unfortunately the Titan 5 is tuned to bassheads.

Mids/highs: 
The mids are therefore affected from the mid-bass presence, where the sound is a little more recessed than it was already on the Titan 1. I felt the mids could have been slightly more forward and a bit more present, I just wish DUNU would have dialled down the mid-bass impact, as it would have positively helped the mids of the Titan 5.
Moving on to the highs, I found them to be as good if not identical to the Titan 1, where they extended very well, despite being slightly rolled off at the top end. Nevertheless the treble energy is just right and the Titan 5s are not sibilant in any way, they provide just the right amount of sparkle and bring life to music.

Soundstage:
The soundstage was different over the Titan 1, where I felt the titanium driver is what made the difference in sound. It was neither that much better nor worse in any way, I just felt the Titan 5 had a different decay to them, which I quite liked. The overall soundstage, like the Titan 1, is extremely impressive and the Titan 5’s instrument separation is very good!

Sound Quality Ratings
Lows: 9.5/10
Mids: 8/10
Highs: 9/10
Soundstage: 9/10

Conclusion & Closing Thoughts

Overall, DUNU have done it again with their new Titan 5s. I can’t comment on the Titan 3 has I haven’t heard them, but they’re supposedly a little more neutral sounding over the Titan 5s. Check out my friend’s review of both the Titan 3 and 5 on his website.
Either way, using my own ears and comparing them directly to the Titan 1s, I found the Titan 5 to be a little more bassy and slightly different in its soundstage presentation. Sonic impressions aside, the Titan 5 improves on the build quality of the Titan 1 and provides yet another great earphone on the market!

At the £100 price tag, there’s no earphone, other tan its brother the Titan 1 which can really rival the Titan 5s!

Hope you enjoyed my review!
–TotallydubbedHD