Package

These all new in-ears ship in a similarly new package. The in-ears lay well protected inside a polycarbonat box.


Like the other in-ears manufactured by Head-Direct the HiFiMAN RE252s come with a decent bundle. You get a lot of good tips, a shirt clip, and spare filters.


The mini-jack used on the RE252 in-ears is an L-type one with a decent dampening system. It is not the best plug in the world, but under normal circumstance it will probably do just fine.


Now the filters for the RE252s look a little different compared to that featured on my old RE1s. You get five spare sets of filters and that is more than enough for a few years of use, unless you have incredibly nasty ears.

Closer Examination

The design of the HiFiMAN RE252s is amazing, the new soft silicone shell just puts the set in a completely different league ergonomics wise than the previous high-end models from Head-Direct. One of the things I like about the design is that it is so simple, just plain black bodies with small logos on the sides which are hard to see once the earphones are inserted. The soft silicone is a bit sticky at first, but the initial stickiness fades away after a couple weeks of use. And oh yes the design is a bit odd, but once in your ears it makes more sense. Good fit was initially hard to get because I wanted to use them with the long tips, and from what I know now that was the wrong choice, pure and simple. These in-ears thrive with a shallow insertion like you get with a normal set of single flange tips. The longer tips not only put these in-ears in an awkward position, but also muffle both the high and lows (this is perhaps because they are too long for my ear canals).


Even though the shell is soft there is still a hard inner core where the driver and cable is mounted. The core is offset compared to the shell so that the sound tube exits the core in a proper angle allowing for a good fit and easier insertion. As you might have noticed from the picture above the R indicator is quite easy to spot.


If we take a look down the sound hole some dampening material is clearly visible. The extra material is there to shape the frequency response somewhat, it is most likely put in place to dampen the treble.


During the course of my tests I found that I achieve the best possible fit and isolation with the medium sized single flange tip. The ease of insertion of these particular in-ears depends a lot on the chosen type of tip. With the double flange tips I found insertion to be extremely tricky, but maybe that is just because of the shape of my ears. Since the tip selection is relatively diverse I think it is possible for everyone to get a good fit with these in-ears.


If we take a look at the RE252s from the bottom the complexity of both the shell and the hard inner core becomes apparent. The two distinct pieces are joined together by some form of glue judging by the looks of the joints. Even the soft shell is a two piece design, so in effect the RE252s have three sets of glue seems.


Another noteworthy upgrade on the RE252s is the new cable. It has a quite soft cable jacket to eliminate unwanted microphonic noise. Compared to the old styled woven sleeved cables this is definitely a turn for the better, however, a cable with a soft cable jacket is a bit more vulnerable to abuse.