Tipsy Audio M1 – Dark, Warm, and Wonderfully Vocal

I hadn’t heard of Tipsy Audio until I received the message, but upon doing a quick search I found that they were founded in 2016 as a premium earphone brand for high-end custom/pro monitoring IEMs. You can visit their website here to learn more, but they’ve sold over 1m units, 150K custom IEMs delivered, trusted by 5k+ global musicians and creators. The M1 is part of their M-Series, which is described as ‘Studio-Accurate IEMs for Music Pros & Gamers”, there is also an M3 and M5 in the range. The M1 is the world’s first bamboo-fiber-diaphragm IEM, or in other words a 10mm bamboo single DD. If you’ve read my other reviews you know that I’m a fan of single DD’s so let’s see how this one goes!

The M1 didn’t come in full retail packaging for me, just the puck case. The inclusions are the standard ones though with the IEMs, cable, 3 silicone tips and 1 foam, and a 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter. The puck case also had my name on it which is a lovely touch. I got a perfect fit with the silicone tips provided and never looked any further, I’ve had this style with some other IEMs and always enjoyed how they felt in my ears.

The shells are quite beautiful to look at, I received the red one which is red/purple, and it looks absolutely stunning. The shell is 3D printed skin-friendly resin and throughout my listening time (approx. 2 weeks full time, then on and off for another week and a bit) I found them to be extremely comfortable and a near perfect fit for my ears. Given all the custom IEM fittings Tipsy have done I think they’ve used that data to create this shell and it really paid off.

I listened over a number of devices but mainly my Cayin N6iii with the R2R motherboard, and my Earman L-Amp 2. My impressions are based on both but mainly the L-Amp 2, it sounds great out of both but with the tubes in the L-Amp 2 it gets elevated up a level. Looking forward to getting the tube card for the N6iii to see if it has a similar effect.

For music I listened to anything and everything!

On to the sound:

Bass:

Quite physical, especially with the tubes. The overall sound leans dark, and if you’ve got a dark leaning IEM the bass needs to be done right for my ears, and the M1 certainly nails the bass. It has a warm impactful feel which gets taken up a notch from the L-Amp. It isn’t the quickest bass but it feels big with notes having great decay. Listening to Djo – End of Beginning the bass creates a big stage for the rest of the track to take off from. Very enjoyable. Moving onto some of my standard bass test tracks it’s a similar story, the bass has a great feel which enhances the staging on the tracks. I found myself getting lost in the music with the M1’s on multiple occasions.

Mids:

As I expected, and as you’d probably expect given what they’re targeting based on the description, the mids are where the M1 really shines. Listening to tracks a few words keep coming to mind: smooth, coherent, natural, beautiful. Vocals in particular are quite special for both males and females, but female vocals were the standout for me, giving an intimate and weighty delivery. I often gravitate to certain kinds of music when reviewing and the M1 had me listening to many different female vocalists to see what they would sound like. The absolute jewel, that I still haven’t got bored of, is Norah Jones – The Long Way Home, with the M1 hitting the same vocal presentation that I loved on the Elysian Diva. The Diva presented the rest of the arrangement better but for the M1 to hit the same vocal presentation is something special considering the price difference. I’m listening to HAIM as I finish up this review and the dark/warm feel and vocal presentation just works so well with them.

Treble:

No one will say that the M1 has too much treble, there is enough here to stop it from feeling closed in but it’s certainly polite in its presentation. You miss a bit of detail in the upper regions with the tuning however when you’re listening to them you’re probably not going to notice, I adore the tuning they have here and the treble fits in with it.

Technical performance:

The stage here is pretty decent, it extends out a little past my ears, and the L-Amp helped extend it out, particularly with the depth. It does layering OK, instruments are positioned within the stage based on width and depth, and don’t generally fall over each other, but on very busy tracks that separation can collapse a little but never to the point where it impacted the listening experience. It isn’t a detail monster, falling more on the musical side, in practical use everyday you forget about it because it’s a great set to listen to.

Subjective thoughts:

I really like the M1, I’ve kept listening past the point I generally would for a review because I enjoy what it does and it fits my ears so well. Every time I pop the M1 in my ears I know that I’m going to have a great listening session. It sounds big, vocals are amazing, and it’s never going to have sibilance to annoy you. I’ve always enjoyed darker tuned IEMs and this one is extremely well done. I’ve tried and own a lot of IEMs around the $99 mark, if you’re after a darker sounding one the M1 gets a recommendation from me.

Overall:

The Tipsy M1 ended up being an IEM that quietly earned its place over a period listening, and I’m still listening. It’s a dark, warm, musically engaging IEM with genuinely special vocals. If you’re looking for a darker-leaning, single DD with beautiful vocal presentation and a big, enveloping sound, the M1 is an easy recommendation from me.

Scorecard at $99:

Category	Score	Notes
Bass	4.5/5	Big, warm and physical with great decay. Not the fastest but very satisfying
Mids	5/5	Smooth, natural and intimate; vocals are the clear highlight
Treble	3.8/5	Polite and well-tuned; safe and cohesive but not highly detailed
Technicalities	3.9/5	Good stage and layering for the price; separation can soften when busy
Build/Design	5/5	Near-perfect fit for my ears. Effortless long-session listening
Value	4.5/5	A standout option if you’re chasing a darker, vocal-focused tuning
Overall	4.5/5	A warm, dark-leaning and highly musical IEM with standout mids and vocals, prioritising enjoyment over analysis.