In 1979, Sony introduced the TPS-L2, the first cassette walkman in history, and since then, the days of sitting at home and enjoying music or carrying a huge tape recorder on your shoulder are gone. In line with the development of the times, headphones are gradually developing towards portability and lightweight, so in the eighties and nineties of the 20th century, the golden age of flat-head plugs officially came. Especially in the flagship price range, various brands have done their best to roll up the unit material and the acoustic structure, contributing such as the Panasonic HV100 with gold fumigation diaphragm dual unit, the Aihua V99 with 4U diaphragm, the Sony E282 with sapphire diaphragm, and the E888 with biological diaphragm.
In terms of acoustic structure, the most legendary one is the U-shaped flute of the Aihua HP-V99. The use of this U-shaped hollow conduit structure has played a great role in the enhancement of the low frequency, bringing quite solid and stable performance to the low frequency of the V99. With the passage of time, the flat head plug has long lost its former glory, not only gradually ceding the mainstream position of the earbuds industry to in-ear headphones, but also lackluster in technological innovation. The appearance of 9.9 free shipping (or even lower) flat-head headphones such as "Yuandao" has confirmed the impression of flat-head = cheap in the minds of many people. Finally, the U-2 recently launched by the domestic manufacturer Shui Yueyu has regained the U-shaped flute design of the V99, bringing a touch of novelty to the flat-head headphone market.
In fact, what many people don't know is that Shui Yueyu started with a flat head plug from the beginning. At that time, Shuiyue felt that "there is no satisfactory flat-headed plug on the market", so he began to make his own headphones. In fact, I bought the M1N VX as early as when the brand was still called M1N, and it was already a very characteristic small plug in the flat-head market at that time. Later, Shuiyueyu successively launched flat-head plugs at various price points from Chaconne, Liebesleid, Baixue, Nameless, etc., which can be said to have a solid precipitation in the field of flatheads. It's just that the most recent release time among these products has been about 5 years, and many people think that Shui Yueyu is going to gradually give up the headphone type of flat head plug, but in fact, they are accumulating steadily, which can be described as five years of brushing fresh feathers, and U-2 is a blockbuster.
When I first saw the U-2, the most striking thing was the huge circle of "paper clips", which is the aforementioned U-shaped flute similar to the Ava V99. However, unlike the old product, the U-2's U-shaped pipette is made of brass, so the acoustic quality will theoretically be improved compared to the structure made of ABS resin of the old product. As for the process, it has also been optimized based on modern technology, and the details and control of the air flow have also been improved. Coupled with the combination of resonance air adhesion damping, the bass texture and timbre of the U-2 have been greatly improved, and the transition processing of details is also more rounded.
In terms of wearing, the U-2 is equipped with a slider on the ear stem to fix the wire, which can be adjusted according to each person's wearing experience, and the wearing performance is better. It has to be said that although this design makes the U-2 unique, it does not affect the wear, and it also makes the U-2 highly recognizable compared with other flat head plugs, and the design is very complete.
The classic acoustic design is truly significant, and the results of its upgrade are truly remarkable. However, for dynamic headphones, especially flat-head headphones, the impact of the unit on the sound is not inferior to that of the cavity. Therefore, Shui Yueyu uses compressed pulp with both high rigidity and high internal resistance as the dome and cone material of the U-2 unit, as well as the diaphragm structure of "cantilever-cone cone-dome" that is usually used on full-range units. These techniques from the field of professional audio result in a smooth three-frequency distribution of the U-2, with a combination of detail and natural timbre.
But this is not enough, veteran players who are familiar with the dynamic understand that the essence of the dynamic unit is the process of electromagnetic conversion to drive the diaphragm to push the air and thus make sound. In this process, the stronger the magnetic pole and the more efficient the conversion of the coil, the more stable the hearing will be for the unit. To this end, the U-2 uses the N52 high-performance magnetic circuit and the CCAW voice coil lightweight suspension system, which realizes a full, deep low-frequency dive and overall stable and natural listening experience.
The U-2 promotional materials specifically emphasise the need for a sponge sleeve to achieve excellent sound performance, which is a selling point that I really like. The reason is very simple, burners who have played with flat-headed plugs have more or less tossed sponge covers, and sponge covers of different thicknesses and whether they are hollow or not affect the sound style and quality of flat-head plugs, so it takes a lot of thought to choose sponge covers. At the same time, the sponge case also changes the sound with increasing time of use, so it needs to be replaced regularly to maintain the sound. Although many manufacturers have also launched a lot of silicone hollow sleeves, which have solved the problems caused by sponge sleeves to a certain extent, they have not cured the symptoms after all.
However, the U-2 was different in that it aimed to "take off the sponge sleeve with confidence" from the development stage. As for the solution, the idea is very clear, Shui Yueyu placed the U-2 on top of the B&K5128 with a real simulation of the ear canal and pinna structure, and then repeatedly adjusted it through the experienced tuning team, so as to obtain a good sound that can have abundant bass diving without a sponge sleeve and will not interfere with other frequency bands, so as to solve the problem from the root.
If I had to describe the U-2's sound style in one word, it would probably be "sound like it." Because it borrows from the "old-timer" flute structure, the U-2 also has a taste of paying tribute to the old-timers in terms of sound style. Its transient response isn't as swift, meaning it's soothing no matter what genre you're facing. However, its voice is not soft, but rather mellow and full, with a properly sized vocal image. As a result, even with the U-2 with a more instrumental front, it retains some polish and retains a lot of detail without over-sharpening. Strictly speaking, this sound is a little "old-school", but the melodiousness is online, and it gives the user a lot of leniency in terms of matching.
This style is perfect for some of the more old-school tuning front-ends, such as some older CD players. But I don't actually have a lot of CDs on hand, because it's easier to get tired of listening to CDs myself. But when I plugged the U-2 into the CD player that had been eating dust for a long time, and listened to the albums that I had heard so familiar that I couldn't be more familiar with them, I was surprised to find that the "tiredness" that was easy to appear in the past would not appear for a long time. Even though these songs are very familiar to me, the U-2's delicate and soothing sound style has a special flavor, and every time I listen to it, I can hear what I like, and it can be said that the U-2 can provide a very high listening resistance.
In the specific three-frequency performance, the U-2 presents a slightly different style from the previous Shuiyue Yu flat head. The U-2 does not have a lot of absolute low frequency, but its depth and rebound speed are excellent. And with the fluffy low-frequency overtones, it also adds a certain thickness to the low-frequency, so that it has a better low-frequency atmosphere in the sense of hearing, but it does not appear too heavy. In the midrange section, both the vocal and the instrument image is more prominent, and although it can't achieve the same clear image outline as in-ear headphones in the same price range, it is good enough to meet the needs of popular vocals and less serious instrumental listening. It also plays well in the face of various types of popular vocals, and the sound is thick enough, and there will be no details due to more vocal embellishment. Of course, as a headset for Shui Yueyu, the U-2's vocals still maintain the family's clear and translucent. It's just that compared with the sorrow of love and the summer sky of his own old-timers, the high frequency of U-2 cannot be natural and ethereal at the same time. However, the good thing is that no matter what front-end driver is used, the U-2 can maintain a good brightness while maintaining a loose feeling of low frequencies without unpleasant stimulation, which is worthy of recognition. At the same time, as a flat-head plug, the resolution and separation of the U-2 are not advantages compared with in-ear headphones, but fortunately, the hearing maintains the natural and loose characteristics of the flat head, coupled with the relatively good sound field and density at the same price, the U-2's listening is natural and smooth and has good musicality.
However, it should be noted that since the U-2 is tuned with the goal of "taking off the sponge cover", using the sponge cover will greatly reduce its transparency, so in order to maintain this sense of transparency, as long as it is not for wearing, please try to abandon the sponge cover.
As the first product of the new series of Shuiyue Yu Pingtou Plug, the U-2, which is priced at only 199 yuan, is positioned as an entry-level product, but the sound and design are very interesting. With the classic acoustic design inherited from the Aihua V99, the unit quality of the new era and the design concept of "take off the sponge sleeve with confidence", it can be said that the U-2 is a people-friendly plug that should not be missed for every flat-head plug enthusiast.