Published on April 26th, 2015 | by Igor Rebenko

Review: thinksound rain2 “Nature’s Friend”

Pros: Good build quality, eco-friendly materials.

Cons: Elevated bass ruins the sound signature, driver flex

Disclaimer: I did not purchase these earphones and do not own them. I’ve had 1 week with them and the Philips Fidelio L2. So please take what I have to say with a grain of salt, or two.

A little about the thinksound rain2:

The thinksound rain2 has a sustainable approach to the market. This is visible throughout. Everything here is designed to be made from eco-friendly materials and you can definitely see this with the packaging, and chosen materials. Not sure about the rest of it.

Specifications (taken from the thinksound website)

Wooden housing for crisp, accurate music reproduction
Frequency Response: 18 Hz – 20 kHz
Sensitivity: 96 ±3 dB @ 1KHz 1mW
Impedance: 16 ohms
45˚angled 3.5mm gold plated stereo plug for increased sound clarity
Driver Size: Acoustically enhanced 8mm driver
Weight (Approximate): 9.5g Ultra-lightweight design
Kevlar-reinforced, tangle-resistant 4 foot long cable
Passive Noise Isolation minimizes ambient sounds
Sweat-resistant design, perfect for the gym

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging looks cheap. It’s a simple white outer box, nothing special, it has some of the information about the rain2 on the back. The inner carton is made from cut cardboard, looks like it was hand cut too, as it’s not the neatest job but it’s a nice touch.

Including in the box is the earphones (obviously), 4 pairs of black silicone tips, a shirt clip and a cotton carry sack. Nothing more, nothing less.

I do think that for the price tag there could be some extra tips to choose from. I personally think that it would do with a set of wide bore tips.

Build quality

The build is actually quite nice. It’s light and made from good materials. The wood is lovely and meshes well with the dark smoky steel front portion of the body. The strain reliefs and the cable is made from a nice, supple rubber which is very tangle resistant. The jack terminates at the 45 degree 3.5mm connector which is gold plated.

Presentation and build quality is something that is done very right here.

Isolation is average as this is a ported design. There is one single port on the back of the housing. You do get some mechanical cable noise when wearing it cable down.

I do get some pretty bad driver flex with all the ear tips I’ve tried. Seems like something one will need to get used to with these.

Sound

I used the rain2 with the following gear: FiiO E17, FiiO X1, xDuoo X2, HUM Pervasion, Audio-gd NFB-15.32 and straight from my Moto G XT1033. Using them for various genres and watching videos on YouTube.

The box states that these earphones are “High definition… a smooth sound signature.” Which is a statement I cannot agree on. The sound signature is my least favourite aspect here.

The thinksound rain2 is a very dark earphone. The best word I can describe them with is “Brash”.

Soundstage is actually quite good and imaging is above par.

Bass

The bass is very elevated. It is the most pronounced and overwhelming part of the signature. It resonates through the whole spectrum and on some (and mostly everything I listened to) tracks and it distorts quite a bit. It extends quite low and is very deep, visceral and is bloated and muddy.

Mids

Male vocals are brash indeed. Some sound like there is an eco in the background and every song I’ve noticed sounds like it is recorded in a large and empty room. The bass completely overwhelms everything that has even a little bit of mid or upper bass in it and amplifies it quite dramatically. It’s something I really did not enjoy all that much.

Treble

This is an aspect that is actually really good on the rain2. It’s not recessed, it’s not the most refined treble you’ll hear, but it’s quite smooth and coherent and keeps all the major elements in vocals and percussions audible and this is something that balances out the sound quite well. This could be a saviour for some people. Especially those who do love a lot of bass and clarity in one package.

Conclusion

While I do applaud thinksound for creating sustainable and eco-friendly products, I don’t think that they have gotten the sound signature right. Of course this is a personal preference and I’m sure that some people will love the way they sound. But for me, I didn’t enjoy them very much, unfortunately.

Cheers!