DUNU Alpha 3 Quick Impression: The Flathead That is Closest to an IEM?

Pros

• Good accessories
• Excellent build quality 
• Deep, thumpy bass
• Good, natural timbre
• Lower midrange doesn't sound overly bloaty or muddy
• Female vocals is forward and engaging but never shouty
• Treble is quite smooth
• Good technicalities 

Cons

• Treble can be a little intense with prolonged listening 
• Non-detachable cable
• Lack of air/upper treble

Disclaimer

• Huge thanks to HiFiGo for providing the opportunity for me to win the Dunu Alpha 3 in a Twitter giveaway. I really do appreciate it. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own, and are not influenced in any way. 

Source(s)

• Truthear Shio

Foams

• Donut foam

Packaging

• Comes with a decent amount of accessories
• Earbud
• Large, high quality case
• 2 different types of foams
• 3 sets of donut foams
• 3 sets of balanced foams
• Cleaning brush

Build Quality

• Feels premium, has a good heft to it and is very sturdy.
• Cable is good with decent thickness but feels a bit stiff

Fit

• One of the best fitting earbuds for me, the weight from the earbuds helps to make them stay on my ears comfortably

 

Tonality

Bass

• One of the most impressive aspects of  the Alpha 3 to me. 
• Mid bass focused
• Bass goes really deep, and it is very well defined. 
• Quite well controlled as well, compared to a lot of other flatheads I tried. 

Midrange

• Lower midrange has some warmth and body to it but it is relatively clean and crisp compared to most of others that I have tried, which I find it to be muddy and bloaty.
• Upper midrange is boosted, very engaging and forward without sounding overly shouty. 

Treble

• Treble is slightly on the brighter and smoother side.
• Details can be perceived quite easily.
• However, it does get a little bit intense and fatiguing after long hours of use.
• It also lacks a little bit of airiness from upper treble.

Technicalities

• Resolution and detail retrieval is very good, somewhat above its price point
• Soundstage is decent, width is average but stage goes fairly deep.
• Separation and layering is good, vocals and every instruments are quite distinct.
• Imaging is decent, I don't find any problems with positioning of instruments in songs or gunshots/footsteps in games for now.

Conclusion

• Personally, I have tried some flatheads in the past which are in different price ranges, which includes the $350 TGX Sunniva, but I still think that the Dunu Alpha 3 really stands out as a $80 flathead. 
• The Dunu Alpha 3 somewhat sounds the closest to an IEM with the characteristics of a flathead like soundstage, at least to my ears.
• If I were to recommend a flathead for a person who only uses IEM as a start, it will definitely be the Dunu Alpha 3, it really is that good, in my honest opinion.

Thanks for reading!