Introduction

I can’t think of any other audio brand that has had a more meteoric rise in recent times than Truthear. Seemingly composed of former employees from other successful brands, it quickly figured out the best way to debut a brand courtesy a collaboration with an influencer to bring out the impressive ZERO that used a dual dynamic driver configuration to provide the masses with a taste of the latest research-backed Harman in-ear target tuning at all of $50. Then came the Truthear Hexa that further impressed by using a hybrid driver set along with tonality that matches the popular MOONDROP Blessing2 IEMs but at a much reduced cost of $80. Both of these sets also had great accessories to where I was left wondering how a new brand could be so impressive. Truthear is clearly not just your typical new startup aiming to re-work OEM drivers and shells and choosing one of several stock face plates options thus, and I was certainly curious to see what’s next from this upstart brand.

First it was $50, next $80, perhaps now you might have expected something in the $100-150 range next. Instead, Truthear decided it wants a piece of the budget IEM market that has been on fire recently, with various Chinese brands putting out well-tuned sets to where anyone wanting to enter the IEM world to experience a well-balanced sound signature does not have to pay much anymore! Truthear’s entry in this crowded space is called the HOLA (Spanish for hello), and then came an even bigger surprise with the simultaneous launch of the SHIO (汐) where the goal is clearly for Truthear to have 4-lettered product names. The SHIO is a portable DAC/amplifier that costs more than the HOLA and. given they launched alongside each other, I figured the best way to cover both would be together in a single review that focuses primarily on the HOLA IEMs. Thanks to SHENZHENAUDIO for providing review samples to TechPowerUp as we begin by taking a look at the product specifications in the tables below!

Specifications