HAVI B3 Pro 1

There’s very little written about the HAVI B3 Pro 1, at least here in China. All I could find were a handful of impressions on the overseas Head-Fi, and they don’t exactly agree with each other — one guy even reported a quality issue. Domestically there’s even less; what I did find reads like sponsored fluff. HAVI itself doesn’t seem to care much and looks more interested in expanding overseas. Anyway, I bought one, and after listening I was pleasantly surprised. Quick write-up:

There’s only one seller for the HAVI B3 Pro 1 on eBay, and it’s the official one. The owner was very friendly and even shipped it express. The packaging is nice and the build quality is solid — the back has a glass facet. Sure, it’s a bit of a knockoff of the Sennheiser IE80, but at least it doesn’t look ugly. According to the official site it’s a dual-dynamic design. I’ve heard plenty about multi-BA setups, but this is my first time with dual dynamic drivers.

The box comes with eartips in all sorts of sizes, including Comply foams. Oddly enough, the Complys have two holes in them, and it’s intentional. I pinched them and it doesn’t hurt the fit — if anything it makes them easier to insert. Probably some special design.

How to describe the sound of the HAVI B3 Pro 1? It’s very different from every other earphone I’ve heard. I’ve always felt that no matter the earphone, including portable headphones, none of them have the presence of my Q701 — especially on tracks like the Attack on Titan OP. Nothing seems missing on paper, but they just sound like they lack that presence compared to the Q701.

Now I get it: that “presence” is soundstage. And the HAVI B3 Pro 1, an in-ear no less, somehow delivers a Q701-like huge soundstage, expanded both laterally and front-to-back. That sense of presence in music is back, and it’s something I’ve rarely heard from an earphone. The backing instruments and the vocalist are pulled far apart — the backing stays backing, the vocalist’s whole voice gets pushed right up in front of you, and some of the backing vocals land behind your ears. Weird, and fun. I’ve heard plenty of high-end BA sets: some have crystal-clear highs and thumping bass, some have that so-called “female poison,” but none of them separate the sound this much. None of them gave me this feeling. Some people might not like it — it’s a bit like the ClearAudio+ tech on Walkmans. But for me it’s genuinely interesting and surprising, at least it’s fresh and I don’t dislike it. As for flaws: the bass and treble have little character. Bass is sparse, highs aren’t especially transparent. What you get is the huge soundstage and the separation between the centered vocal and the backing. How it sounds depends on the listener.

The HAVI B3 Pro is reasonably comfortable to wear, and the cable is flat, so it doesn’t tangle too easily. One last thing worth mentioning: this earphone is very hard to drive. I had to push the Walkman ZX1 to 80% volume before the music was clearly audible — otherwise it was too quiet. In the end I had to bring in the PHA-1 amp. Honestly, everything I described above was with the amp in the chain. I’ve seen people say it’s quiet and characterless, and I figure that’s the negative effect of not driving it properly. HAVI also released the HAVI B3 Pro 2 specifically to address this — easier to drive, with boosted bass to suit the masses. But word is that memorable soundstage is gone.