Put Your Hands UP in The Air Like You Just Do Not Care!

Pros: Good bass quantity and quality
Great build quality
Excellent packaging
Really nice art on the shells
Competitive price
Decent cable

Cons: Bad mids with bass bleed
Bass overwhelms the mids
Highs are just OK

Overview:

Up for review today are the Mangird XENNS Up (yeah, I’m not going to capitalize that every time – get over it). These beautiful IEMs come with a 10mm DD for the BASS, 4 BAs for the mids and highs, and 2 ESTs for the ultra-highs. They also have hand-painted shells which is a pretty cool touch. I got these as part of a trade from another Head-Fier, so I don’t have any links to share, but you can buy them from Linsoul for $700 if you feel like buying a set. On with the review!

Accessories/Earpads/Eartips (10/10):

Super nice. That’s the best way to describe the packaging on the Xenns Up. The box sleeve has the gorgeous art you’ll find on the shells all over it, which looks like flowing lava. The inner box is really nice and protective and it includes a splitter, a leather carrying case, and adapters for the cable to work with just about everything you could imagine. It also comes with several different “cards” worth of ear tips – foamies, silicon-ies…foam/silicone hybrids…you get the idea. It’s a better presentation than the $600 Meteor, the $1000 FiR VxV, and the $$1,100 Fibae 5. Heck, it’s a better presentation than much more expensive IEMs – looking at you FiR Frontier series. It earns a 10/10 here, and as always, I’m using my Spinfit W1 tips since they’re the best I’ve found (You can buy them here if you want a set: https://amzn.to/3WDrNIk.)

Cable (8/10):

The Xenns Up comes with a decent cable. It’s a little thick and heavy for my tastes with some annoying memory retention, but it’s a better cable than comes with a LOT of more expensive IEMs (looking at you again Fir Xe6). It also has modular ends, which I can fully appreciate, though at this level if you’re not using a 4.4mm balanced jack on your DAP/amp, that’s a bit weird. So really, at this price, it would have probably been a better idea to just include a 4.4mm attached. Still, I appreciate the options, even if some will argue that this choice will decrease the sound quality and blah blah blah – those guys already own an aftermarket cable worth more than these IEMs – they can go use that and quit complaining. It’s not as nice as the FiR Rn6 cable, but it still beats a LOT of stock cables – 8/10 points here.

Build Quality/Comfort (10/10):

The build quality on the Xenns Up is fantastic. The Xenns have great build quality and comfort with a really nice hand-painted art pattern that’s unique to each set. On top of that is a clear coating that makes them appear seamless and they have vents to avoid pressure build-up. The IEMs design sets them comfortably in your ear with curved stems and the overall housing is pretty small compared to something like the Ronin/Mentor/Elysium. They will protrude a bit though, if that annoys you, as they are thicker than some. I have no reason to take off any points here, there are wonderfully designed and built – 10/10 points.

Sound:

Check out the wolfhawk.squig.link below. I’ve thrown quite a few IEMs on here since when I originally wrote this review, the Xenns Up wasn’t available in the U.S., and the price for it roughly translated to around $1,100. At the $700 price from Linsoul, it plays in a much more reasonable playground and there’s far less competition. At the price of the Fibae 5, the Xenns Up has no ability to contest it, but for $400 less, it gives the F5 a run for its money in value. Obviously, it has less sub-bass/mid-bass than the Meteor (closest competition) and the F5, but it’s still considered a bassier IEM. The mids of all 4 are very close and the highs are all over the place, so check out the individual song tests below for a clearer picture on what all of that means.

I am powering these from my HiBy RS8 with the A/B amp on medium gain at around ~40/100 volume. I’m using Tidal Hi-Fi with MQA enabled and the 4.4mm jack with the stock cable.

Lows (15/20):

I’m starting off with the Mid-bass/Sub-bass test I’m using David Guetta’s “I’m Good (Blue).” There is really good, full-bodied mid-bass on the Xenns Up, with just a tad bit of unwanted distortion. There is also good sub-bass, though the wind-up is hard to hear. These are quite bassy, and probably one of the best bass presentations in this price range. It’s not Fibae 5 levels, but it is very pronounced overall – and drowns out the mids a bit. For the bass quantity/quality test though, these get near full points with a 9/10.

Up next is Demon Hunter’s “I Am A Stone,” which I use to test whether the bass is too strong and overwhelms the mids as that is just as important as how strong/good the bass is. The Xenns Up is not really a mids-focused IEM, as evidenced by this song. The bass is the star of the show here, and it does occasionally overwhelm the mids. It’s better than some bassy IEMs, but still very pronounced. 6/10 points here.

Mids (9/20):

Weaving The Fate’s “The Fall” is my test song for clean/dirty guitars and vocals with background instruments to see how clearly the vocals/guitars can be heard. The intro’s clean guitars are very quiet, but clean and detailed. The dirty guitars come in muddy as a wall of sounds with no real definition. The bass guitar of course comes across quite strong here. The vocals are decent, but pushed pretty far back in a soundstage that feels a bit artificial. 2/6 points.

Staind’s “Something to Remind You” has clean electric guitars and wonderful vocals – this song tests vocal quality and background noise. This song can sound really magical on some IEMs – the Xenns Up doesn’t manage to capture that magic with its recessed mids and emphasized lows. Detail is missing and the vocals just sound OK – not the worst, but not the best. 2/7.

To test classical instruments in the mids, I’m using The Piano Guys’ “Code Name Vivaldi.” Woah, there’s so much low-end presence on this it’s almost overwhelming. It really brings a LOT of emotion to this song, though the pianos and mid-cello are pushed back more than I’d like. This IEM is a bit of a broken record for me – lots of bass and pushed-back mids – still, it has its charms and this song is a good example of that. 5/7 points.

Highs (13/20):

To test sibilance on headphones I use Panic! At The Disco’s “High Hopes. There is not a ton of sibilance on these IEMs, but there is still a noticeable amount. They are definitely above average on sibilance though. 4/6 points – solid.

Dream Theater’s “The Alien,” is the highs test song I use to see if the cymbals/high-hats/snare drum can be clearly heard and distinguished from the rest of the music (also good for instrument separation.) There is some highs presence here, but it’s pretty muted and nowhere near the level of something like the VxV. That said, the Xenns Up doesn’t have the sibilance the VxV has either – it’s always a trade-off. Still, you can hear a little of the cymbals in the background, so it’s nowhere near the worst I’ve heard. 3/7 points.

Michelle McLaughlin’s “Across The Burren” is another of my favorite highs/sharpness test songs as it can easily sound painful on some headphones. I’m not really expecting any sharpness here based upon the two previous songs and I am not disappointed. The Xenns Up aren’t perfect on this song – there’s the occasional cringe note, but they get close enough for me to award them 6/7 points.

Soundstage/Instrument Separation/Imaging (6/10):

I use MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” to test soundstage, instrument separation, and imaging. The Xenns Up has pretty good imaging (3/3) on this song and a decent soundstage (2/3.) The instrument separation isn’t that great though (1/3.) 6/10 points here.

Comparisons:

Update: Linsoul now has these for $700, which makes them a solid bargain under $1k – it also means they’re competing more with the Meteor which costs a couple hundred less. The below paragraph was written before Linsoul had them and they were harder to find, but it still applies so I’ll leave it in the review. I personally like both the Xenns Up and the Meteor, so just grab the one you want to pay for – the Xenns Up feels a little more premium than the Meteor, but I prefer the Meteor’s sound – you may not (some people like it, other don’t).

The Xenns Up runs around $1,100 if you can find a pair. That puts them in direct competition with the Fibae 5 and FiR VxV. To be blunt, I’ll take the Fibae 5 over these any day of the week if I’m looking for a bassy IEM – though the Fibae 5 will likely cost quite a bit more used. If I’m looking for an IEM with great Mids and Highs, but low bass quantity, the VxV would be my choice as well. The Xenns Up has really good sub-bass and avoids a lot of sibilance and sharpness, so these will likely please EDM lovers. Those in search of forward mids and great detail will need to look elsewhere and anyone looking for forwards/detailed highs should do the same.

Conclusion:

Geez, I have never had to adjust the volume knob so much on a set of IEMs. That said, these are definitely a bass-lovers IEM. They are the exact opposite of the FIR VxV and the recessed mids and highs don’t play to my preferences, but they may to yours. I’d personally still recommend the Fibae 5 over the Xenns Up if you’re looking for a bassy IEM – it’s an all-around better IEM.

Headphone Scoring (v3):
Accessories / Earpads / Eartips (10 pts):	10​
Cable (10 pts):	8​
Build Quality/ Design / Comfort (10 pts):	10​
Lows (20 pts):	15​
Mids (20 pts):	9​
Highs (20 pts):	13​
Soundstage / Instrument Separation / Imaging (10 pts):	6​
Total:	71