DUNU 242

Preamble: The good bloke Kevin at DUNU has kindly sent out the DN242 iems for review with no expectations of a positive review – and that’s exactly what he’s getting. These retail for $349 USD and utilise 2 Dynamic Drivers (DD) + 4 Balanced Armature (BA) + 2 Planar Drivers. They have an impedance of 35 ohm and a sensitivity of 110dB @ 1kHz. They also employ a 5-Way Crossover System. I like to add on all my reviews – I’m listening with my ears, not yours. I’m listening with my gear, not yours. I’m listening with my love of audio, and not yours. YMMV….. Now let’s get our aural hands dirty! Gear: For the review, my portable gear consists of the new Cayin RU3 dongle/Samsung Z Fold 7 (https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/cayin-ru3.28698/reviews#review-41140 , and for desktop, the xDuoo DP-10 streaming transport (https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/xduoo-dp-10-streaming-transport.28869/reviews#review-40995) and new (for me) xDuoo XD05 Pro (review shortly). Unboxing and first impressions: Similar to the recently reviewed 142s (https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/dunu-dn142.28758/reviews#review-40926) the 242s come in a lovely (this time) red box. The box art features Nezha, the fiery, rebellious hero from Chinese mythology. Open sesame and 2 blazing, bright ovals stare up at me, lovingly, speaking to me….”Andrew, put us in…..you know you want to…….” Well…..that was weird………. Anyway, lift the foam up (which I am not lying – my 2 naughty puppies got to it (sans iems luckily) and tore it to shreds…… and there is a small hardcase with a lovely braided 4.4mm cable, 3 bags of tips, a modular 3.5mm adapter and 6.3mm adapter also. We also get a tiny moustache brush (how did Kevin know I had a moustache????), an instruction manual and 3 collectible cards (the Nezha version of the 142s). The iems themselves are quite stunning. I love the bright red, smooth, shiny faceplate. They’re solid, large but not heavy, and the red, black and gold trim look premium. The Important Stuff: Warning -gripe ahead! The nozzles (like the 142s) are thicker than Cousin Gunta’s left…….never mind. Anyway, where the tips sheathe the nozzle, if they are soft (floppy), they are virtually impossible to get on. I tried for 5 minutes with the candy tips. I was sweatier than a Sumo wrestler’s jockstrap (is this site 18+?). I popped them in. all good. Huge bass………mids were too forward for my liking. I thought “No, I DO NOT want to tip-roll these things!!”. I tried the silicon tips with an even softer rubber, and inside my head, I see the YouTube videos of intoxicated idiots attempting to get condoms on their heads……. I actually gave up. I got one on after many expletives and could NOT get the 2nd. I had some KiwiEars tips I was given at 2025’s Shenzhen International Audio Show, which I’ve used before and really liked, so I put them on. Done in 5 seconds! Gripe over. I slipped them into my sonic metal holes and………..much better. They fit well, seal well and are comfortable. The mids had tamed substantially. Treble was clean. There may have been a small loss of some bass (I’m NOT swapping again), but they sounded MUCH better. I’m finally starting to realise just how important the right tips are. They can change a whole iem’s tuning or sound profile. Music at last. First up on the Cayin RU3. Emblas Saga. Stunning!. Beautiful. Ylva Eriksson’s haunting vocals are so clean, clear and natural. As is the fire burning off to my right, and the breeze is all around. Her voice is out in front of my nose. Separation is excellent! Bass and drums come in and they aren’t ocean-deep but sufficient. Mids are just right now. This is an exciting and dynamic listen. Playing God tests detail and resolution, bass punch, dynamics, and pure excitement. The 242s are responding beautifully. Staging is wide with guitars in both ears, drums in the middle, and behind me. Bass is deep here, very well controlled and punchy. I’m going loud, because this is fantastic. Resolution is excellent. Separation is all around my noggin. Wow! Free Tibet – EDM with a set of steel ones. Again, staging is wide and holographic also, and separation is top-notch. Treble is clean, bright and in no way harsh or sibilant. The beat drops……………..Ok, these go down sub-bass levels and do it with power, punch and a hell of a lot of jubilation. Everything together is sparkling, cohesive and hard-hitting. A quick shout out to the Cayin Ru3 – it is doing a MAGNIFICENT job of driving these little Hellhounds. The bass just SLAMS on Free Tibet and the track is electrifying! I’ll switch to the xDuoo combo now and do a quick recap. Emblas Saga has the fire out slightly wider in my right ear. It all sounds magnificent again but there’s not a huge change just yet. Detail and resolution may have just increased slightly. It sounds a bit more “grandiose”. But the shift is subtle. Playing God confirms the extra treble sparkle, and hence resolution and detail. It’s not crisp or harsh, but it’s just at the limit beforehand. It is a bit overall larger. Spacing and separation is a bit enhanced, as in the space where it all happens is bigger. Staging is a bit wider but no more holographic. Free Tibet is separated out further and broader again also. Bass slam is akin to having canons firing in my ears. It is colossal. But everything is tight and well controlled. Chocolate Chip Trip comes out all around my head. This is the aural equivalent of being inside the House of Mirrors at your local carnival. Anywhere you go or look, there’s mirrors bouncing off you and it does something to your mind. This is precisely what I’m experiencing now. It’s genuinely trippy (and no kiddies, I do NOT do drugs!!). Danny Carey’s drumming is amazing on the xDuoo/DUNU 242 combo!! I’ve banged on about this before. Peacefield by Ghost has the most ethereal, transcendent intro I have ever heard. It genuinely moves me. The clarity and clean presentation here is just wonderful. Forge’s vocals hit hard and powerful and then the band envelops the vocals and brings everything together. It’s authoritative, exciting and enjoyable. I definitely wouldn’t say these are V-shaped, but with the KiwiEars tips, all frequencies seem to be slightly enhanced or coloured, but this is a good thing. It’s been done very well and everything just works in unison. I really like this tuning/sonic presentation. There’s nothing “safe” here. Finally, we bring out the Baroque tear-machine. Tomaso Albinoni (well, I hope it’s not him, he’d be really stinky by now….and his suit would need an iron). The harpsichord is clean. The violins are natural and life-like. Resolution is excellent, as is separation of instruments in my nut. This is beautiful on the 242s. They present this like a live concert. I feel like I’m part of the audience (said every audiophile/reviewer every time!!). But it’s actually a tangible description of how this sounds. I do feel like I’m in the hall and part of it. In my recent 142 review, I enjoyed them but they were safe, a bit tame with a slightly upper-mids and treble focus. They were lovely but the 242s are polar opposites. And I guess that’s why the 142s are blue (cool, relaxed, wet(???????)), and the 242s are fiery red – loud, Beelzebubbian HellHounds – I get it now. A quick comparison (or 2): The DUNU 142s are $100 cheaper and a lot safer with a very different tuning/sonic presentation. Many will prefer the 142s over the 242s, it all comes down to personal preference. The 142s have a bit more in the upper-mids and treble and not as much bass as the 242s. I do prefer the 242s by a small margin. The Sivga Nightingale Pros are a planar iem, unlike the tribrid 242s, so it’s apples for durians here. In a nutshell, these two IEMs are not tuned for the same listener. The 242 is a hybrid multi-driver clarity machine; the Nightingale Pro is a planar designed for realism, air, and acoustic intimacy. Both have their sonic benefits and drawbacks. I love the wood on the Sivgas but the fiery red on the DUNUs captures me too. On both iems, the KiwiEars tips are my preference. On Playing God, there is a tad more upper mid-focus on the Nightingale Pros and they are a little smoother overall. Bass goes a bit deeper on the 242s and there is more energy from the 242s. On Peacefield, the ethereal quality is similar on both. Staging and separation are larger on the 242s. Once the band kicks in, the 242s present a more exciting and dynamic listen, and it is my preference over the 2 sets. The Sivgas, without comparison though, are a lovely and very competent set of iems, please take that away.