The Olina is a follow - up and sister to the Mele earphones.
The inspiration for Olina was a famous set released several years ago.
Olina contains the same high quality drivers that were used in that iconic set of earphones.
Combining that driver with a comfortable shell was born via feedback from Mele owners and discussions with other reviewers online. More detail, more extension, improve. Putting together a driver and shell is not so simple as the original idea surmised. If the goal was to maintain the high sound quality, then that meant letting the driver produce the tuning that made it so popular.
Initial attempts were not successful. The driver seemed to perform better with a smaller cavity. If that were done (it was considered), then the point of excellent fit would be abandoned. So that idea was shelved. The solution was to widen the bore of the nozzle just slightly and the driver tuning aligned with the original. Clarity, timbre and tonality were virtually identical.
The Mele was the musical bass centric sister while Olina is the more technically precise one. Bass guitar is accurate. Note weight is authentic as well as instrument timbre. Vocals are excellent. Olina is a $99 interpretation of a well known set and is improving the fit and making the price more accessible to most music lovers.
My followers are not concerned with company profits or the imitation of something in a hobby that does it all the time. They want the best sound quality at the best price with a solid QC. That's what makes their wallets and ears happy.
That's what was done right here. 100's of reviews and 1000's of earphones later and I can say this set is a winner and what folks who watch my channel
will like. If at anytime in the future I can come up with a good way to bring high quality music replay at a great price I'm going to jump and push that idea. An idea like Olina'.
I’m so glad that HBB has decided to do this. My iem preference is DD as the sound is so blended instead of worrying if it’s going to have the problems that usually plague hybrids. That being said, I loved the Mele and found it quite satisfying in both sound and comfort, and the Mele is in such a premium feeling, looking and fitting shell that this purchase of the Olina was a no-brainer and to be honest, I can’t wait for it to arrive! If it is housing the driver I’ve heard it has – it’s really going to be something, especially at this price! As far as the company Tripowin, I own 3 of their iem’s and have purchased many a cable from them and I have not one complaint about the build quality as everything has met or exceeded my expectations.
Looking forward to the Olina.
If this is anything like the Tanchjim Oxygen O2 iem… it is going to be on par with the very best at around $200-300.
Even if this is as good as the O2s little sister, the $180 Hana, it’s still an incredible value.
I can’t imagine he’s making much of a profit on these for this price. The labor of love is really coming through here.