Comparison.

This testing was done using MP145 with a stock balanced cable, silver filter, Symbio W eartips, and the P6 Pro source, volume matched in every comparison.

MP145 OG vs LE – Mids/upper-mids and treble are identical, but the bass in LE has a little more weight, scaling up the sub-bass rumble and mid-bass punch which makes LE’s lower mids sound fuller in body.  Coincidentally, the “lighter” shell OG version bass sounds a bit more neutral in comparison.  This difference also explains my selection of upgrade cable pair-up.  More neutral OG bass benefited from Ares S (4W) extra bass boost, while beefier LE bass was complemented with Azrael cable.

MP145 LE vs CFA Supermoon – Both IEMs require serious tip-rolling to smooth out the 8kHz peak, and both get it under control using either foam or hybrid-foam eartips.  There is a similarity in their performance, especially the coherency in tuning across the FR.  There is also one quite noticeable difference.  MP145 has fuller body lower mids and smoother upper mids, while CFA Supermoon’s lower mids are leaner, and upper mids have a bump around 2kHz to boost the pinna gain.  I think this 2kHz peak is what pushes Supermoon’s upper mids to be more forward, more revealing, and more energetic.  In contrast, MP145 has more natural smoother mids, which doesn’t reduce the retrieval of details or the resolution.  When it comes to the bass if you isolate your listening to the lower end of the spectrum, they are not too far off, but the fuller body of its lower mids and smoother upper mids give MP145 bass more solid weight.  In contrast, the Supermoon bass feels tighter, faster, and “lighter”.  Another thing I noticed when focusing on the treble, Supermoon has another mid-treble peak which makes its treble brighter and crisper, while the MP145 treble is a bit smoother but has more airiness.

Source Pair up.

In each source pair-up comparison I was using my Galaxy S22 smartphone, S9 Pro Plus (S9PP), and MP145 LE with a stock balanced cable, silver filter, and Symbio W eartips.  Here are my brief listening notes, focusing on changes related to a sound sig and a general tonality without going into too many intimate details.

S9PP vs Lotoo S2 – S9PP has a bigger soundstage expansion with more holographic imaging; similar expanded dynamics, and some differences in tonality.  S2 bass response is a bit softer, mids smoother, and the treble has scaled down the amount of sparkle, while S9PP has punchier bass, a bit less colored mids, and more sparkle in the treble.

S9PP vs L&P W2 – very similar soundstage expansion and imaging between these two.  Also, I hear a very similar stronger bass impact.  The treble is almost the same as well, maybe with a touch more sparkle in S9PP.  The main difference in tonality I hear is in mids where W2 has smoother tonality, while S9PP has more transparency and more revealing crisper tonality.

S9PP vs iBasso DC06 Pro – very similar soundstage expansion and imaging.  Tonality is also nearly the same.  I had to go back and forth many times (using the default S9PP filter), and can only spot a touch more musicality in mids of S9PP in comparison to a bit more revealing upper mids of DC06 Pro.

S9PP is a very dynamic source with a big soundstage expansion, punchy, articulate low end rendition, natural detailed mids, and crisp extended treble.  It has a rather balanced natural revealing sound.  Excellent pair up with MP145, adding more holographic dimension to the sound, bringing up stronger bass performance, clear natural and very detailed mids, and airy extended treble.

Also, while I was using Galaxy S22 as a digital source, I found Hidizs AP80 Pro-X and Hiby M300 to work (and pair up) great as a budget-friendly source alternative.  If you are interested in a dedicated digital source, in this case, you don’t need to use a very expensive DAP.

Conclusion.

As they say, don’t judge a book by its cover, or… IEMs/dongles by their price!  On Hidizs website the MP145 OG has been on sale for $159, while the LE version goes for $339.  At almost double the price, the LE version, even if you combine it with the S9 Pro Plus which is currently on sale for $89, is still a bargain if you are on a budget and want to add hi-fi listening experience to your smartphone.  If you don’t mind spending some time to finetune its treble while going through different eartips, you will be rewarded with a deep textured bass, natural detailed mids, and crisp and non-fatigue treble, surrounded by a big soundstage expansion.

Another interesting takeaway from this review and my testing, I didn’t know what to expect while testing the same pair of IEMs in 2 different shell materials.  The OG Aluminum shell version is lighter and more comfortable to wear, and it also has a “lighter” more neutral sound in comparison to the heavier LE Golden Titanium shell with more weight in bass and fuller body mids.  Since we are dealing with a large 14.5mm Planar Magnetic driver, it probably responds differently due to changes in the acoustic chamber shell material.  But either version delivers quite an impressive tuning for a single PM driver.  These are worth checking out for sure!