72 Hours Into the IEM Rabbit Hole — Now I Know Nothing. Help Me Choose Wisely

[dtaylo1066]

Fit is more important than price if you buy one of the ASR recommended low price IEMs. I have Crinacle Zero Red, which are excellent, and you can go cheaper. The long post and fit is not the best. It is very important to find a comfortable ear tip that fits your each and optimizes the sound.

 

[Muca]

I have not read the whole thread but I have dived down the iem rabbit hole a couple weeks ago. I am also a speaker guy but decided I need something on the go. With tws I only hear audio books, the technical performance is very important to me. First of all. ear tips.... I cannot stress this enough... ear tips. I am very sensitive when it comes to ear tips comfort. I have spent 100$+ on ear tips in the last couple weeks. I tried all the big recommendations... Spinfit wins for me. They are ~10$ per pair but I do not feel any iem with them. Spinfit W1 is regarded as one of the best ear tips. I prefer Spinfit omni, they are SLIGHTLY more comfortable. I do not notice any iem with them. Omni has slightly less bass, W1 more. ear tips have more or less all a sound.
Second get a device with eq and bluetooth. The bluetooth does not degrade the sound by much at least with something like ldac. You will notice it only a bit if at all. I bought a fiio btr15, good sound, 10 peq, small and light, <100$ from aliexpress.
Then the iems. You will be surprised how good a 50$ iem can sound like. The difference between a 50$ iem and a 500$ is noticeable but it is not THAT big. A 50$ iem completely destroys every tws or bluetooth over ear on the market. Due to design of the iems, eq is imo essential. I do eq with apo + peace on my windows machine and afterwards tip it in the fiio app. If you want a dongle and do not want a bluetooth device, get fiio ka17 instead. similar price, slightly better sound performance and the eq you can do more comfortable in browser on any device. I have both and use exclusively the btr15.

 

[Berwhale]

I have owned several IEMs measured and recommended on ASR...

Truthear x Crinacle (Blue)
Truthear x Crinacle Red
3 pairs of 7Hz x Crinacle Zero: 2

I use a Qudelix 5K as a source (driven from a phone using LDAC codec) and apply PEQ to correct towards the Harman IE target. I use Moondrop Spring Tips for all the IEMs.

The 7hz x Crinacle sound the best and are the most comfortable in my ears, they are very cheap (~$20 direct from China). However, I have had the left IEM go bad on 3 pairs (the volume drops by 3-5dB compared to the right IEM). I have resolved to not buy another pair because of this.

I liked the Crinacle Reds a lot. Not quite as much as the Zero: 2, but I could easily live with these if they were the only IEMs I owned. This is despite the fact that the Truthear x Crinacle are quite bulky. However, recently, the left IEM on my 2 year old pair of Reds died completely.

My OG Truthear x Crinacle are still going strong. However, they don't sound as good to me as either the Reds or the Zero: 2 and this means their bulk becomes more of an issue.

I therefore purchased a pair of Moondrop LAN 2 POP, which I received yesterday. I have these EQ'd to Harman, they sound great and I'm really enjoying the compact size and stainless steel housing which feels more premium than any of the above. Time will tell if they can survive my left ear.

 

[Matt_Holland]

A $20 IEM is totally worth a try. They're so good nowadays and the ROI from spending significantly more is debatable at best....

A complete no-brainer! Reference sound for the price of 3 pints of beer!

Regarding GATE vs Zero:2
Zero:2 has objectively smoother treble, to my ears more impactful bass, better build quality, and the upper midrange/ear gain region isn't as grating as it is (again to my ears) on the GATE.

I have Gate and Zero 2 and agree with this summary. The Gate is phenomenal if you EQ it. It's just so so clean and revealing and the spatial qualities are excellent. "Out of the box" the Zero 2 is better balanced and doesn't need EQ.

If none of the provided ear tips achieve a good seal, then trying some 3rd party tips is totally worth it.

And if it just doesn't fit well, no matter just move on to the next model. We're spoilt for choice as you've already noticed

Exactly! For IEMs, it appears not to make sense in spending more than £15-50 to get something that it essentially state of the art.

 

[rdscuba]

Got tracking notification that the GATEs will be here tomorrow (Thursday). Will be excited to finally be able to compare them with my Zero:2’s. Also grabbed the TRN Black Pearl from Amazon and it is slated to deliver tomorrow as well.

What will my 3rd set of IEM’s be…??? This is pretty fun, how many pairs can I get before you all cut me off? lol.

 

[IsaacOscar]

What will my 3rd set of IEM’s be…??? This is pretty fun, how many pairs can I get before you all cut me off? lol.

Well I like the Sennheiser IE 200, but they're not Harman-compliant, or cheap, so most people here will probably disagree with me.

 

[IngMishael]

What will my 3rd set of IEM’s be…???

stop right here

 

[rdscuba]

stop right here

Oh no! I was thinking my pursuit was going to take me on a long journey, ending in having tried a mountain of IEMs, settling on a few favorites and one holy grail. Bummer, I only get two now.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Got tracking notification that the GATEs will be here tomorrow (Thursday). Will be excited to finally be able to compare them with my Zero:2’s. Also grabbed the TRN Black Pearl from Amazon and it is slated to deliver tomorrow as well.

What will my 3rd set of IEM’s be…??? This is pretty fun, how many pairs can I get before you all cut me off? lol.

Don't want to bias you, but I'm using the Gates again today (with EQ) and I think they might be better than the Zero 2 (with EQ). I think they are cleaner, more open and have better out of the head spatial effects. The twisted cable is also much easier to live with than the Zero 2's thin, lightweight cable. Tomorrow I'll probably prefer the Zero 2, lol!

 

[delta76]

Fit is more important than price if you buy one of the ASR recommended low price IEMs. I have Crinacle Zero Red, which are excellent, and you can go cheaper. The long post and fit is not the best. It is very important to find a comfortable ear tip that fits your each and optimizes the sound.

tips can also be bought for cheap on Aliexpress, for ~$10 you get 10 pairs of tips from different IEMs to try, so do that before buying a new IEM

 

[Matias]

I don't want to ruin everyone's party with the ~20 usd IEMs, which I also love, but IME, upgrading later to the 50-80 usd makes a considerable upgrade in cleaner sound, probably due to lower IMD of multi-drivers instead of a single DD. Truthear Zero Red or Hexa/Pure are the sweetest of spots again IME.

 

[Matt_Holland]

I don't want to ruin everyone's party with the ~20 usd IEMs, which I also love, but IME, upgrading later to the 50-80 usd makes a considerable upgrade in cleaner sound, probably due to lower IMD of multi-drivers instead of a single DD. Truthear Zero Red or Hexa/Pure are the sweetest of spots again IME.

Without seeing IMD measurements that's speculation. Listening to EQ'd Gates right now and can't imagine a cleaner sound. THD on them is virtually non-existent, so I imagine IMD is very low too. Also specualtion, lol!

 

[Ype]

Got tracking notification that the GATEs will be here tomorrow (Thursday). Will be excited to finally be able to compare them with my Zero:2’s. Also grabbed the TRN Black Pearl from Amazon and it is slated to deliver tomorrow as well.

What will my 3rd set of IEM’s be…??? This is pretty fun, how many pairs can I get before you all cut me off? lol.

The rest is good old trail and horror my friend.
Seal is extremely important for IEMs which is why I shared a seal test multiple times.

As for my personal opinion as I also own the zero:reds which I am still very happy with.

I would recommend the Gate over it because:
1 The Gate has higher sensitivity and the frequency response does not change with different output impedance which makes them easier to drive and use with mobile devices.
2 The nozzle is thinner on the Gate which makes it compatible with more tips and and it has less insertion depth while still going deep enough to comfortably fit most ears.

Both have good compliance to target but I still prefer both with EQ and both sound excellent.
I still prefer my Neumann KH310's in near field with a sub but I am amazed how good both IEMs sound to me.

 

[rdscuba]

Zero:Red, Pure, and Hexa seem to be similarly priced and bit less than $100. I think that I am leaning toward one of these 3 to try and see if my ears can tell any difference over the GATE or Zero:2. Thoughts?

 

[Matt_Holland]

Zero:Red, Pure, and Hexa seem to be similarly priced and bit less than $100. I think that I am leaning toward one of these 3 to try and see if my ears can tell any difference over the GATE or Zero:2. Thoughts?

Good idea. Are you able to add EQ in your setup? The Gate needs a +3dB bass shelf from around 150Hz, a small cut centred on 3KHz and a small boost centred on 6KHz. You’ll get a lots of different ear buds to try as well. Getting a good seal is half the battle with any of these things.
Let us know how you get on.

 

[rdscuba]

Good idea. Are you able to add EQ in your setup? The Gate needs a +3dB bass shelf from around 150Hz, a small cut centred on 3KHz and a small boost centred on 6KHz. You’ll get a lots of different ear buds to try as well. Getting a good seal is half the battle with any of these things.
Let us know how you get on.

I do use PlexAmp to stream music from my home server and it has a graphic eq, and when I get home today, there is a TRN Black Pearl waiting to be unboxed... which I have no idea how to use.

 

[dtaylo1066]

tips can also be bought for cheap on Aliexpress, for ~$10 you get 10 pairs of tips from different IEMs to try, so do that before buying a new IEM

Quite correct and 100% solid advice on top of my comments. Many IEMs come with several tips, but none may be to your liking. Buy some more before dumping the IEMs. You want tips that are comfortable, but also form a decent seal between your ear and the tip. I was astounded how much better for me larger tips were than the one's that cam on the Crinicals. Good fit made the sound much more solid, way better bass, imaging, etc.

 

[IsaacOscar]

A vast improvement for me were foam tips with an air gap between the silicone center and the foam outer hull like these. You don't need to roll these before inserting and they don't need time to expand again - they work just as quick as full silicone tips, but their fit and seal are much, much better.

Thanks, these are much cheaper than Comply so I might give them a try just in case they are as good. However, I don't actually have these problems with my Comply medium ones: just inserting them normally feels and sounds the same as rolling them and holding them in place for a few seconds (The large ones however are horribly uncomfortable unless I insert them properly, but I think the medium are slightly more comfortable anyway, albeit I think/imagine the bass sounds weaker on the medium).

 

[IsaacOscar]

It's probably very obvious, but since no one seems to have mentioned it, it very important that any eartips you get fit your IEM!
If the inner diameter of the tips is too small, you won't be able to get them on (usually they stretch a bit, so it's ok if the diameter is slightly smaller than your IEMs). If the diameter is too big however, they will simply fall off, or worse get left in your ears when you remove your IEMs (this is NOT fun!).

You can can check the size before buying by:

• Checking that your IEM is listed as supported by the eartips (the Comply and Spinfit websites have an easy way to show only their tips that fit a given IEM)
• Measuring the diameter of the nozzle of your IEM, and check that your eartips say they are compatible with this diameter, or have an internal diameter that is either the same, or slightly smaller. (The length of the nozzle shouldn't be too important, but you probably want it to not be longer than eartips, or it will stick out)
• Combining the above two: check that your IEM's diameter is the same as a model that your eartips support.

In particular, my Truethear x Crinacle Zero has a very large diameter of 7mm (as opposed to my 4.5mm Sennheiser IE 200) so not as many eartips will fit them, I suspect the Gate and other Zero's are similar.

 

[Ype]

It's probably very obvious, but since no one seems to have mentioned it, it very important that any eartips you get fit your IEM!
If the inner diameter of the tips is too small, you won't be able to get them on (usually they stretch a bit, so it's ok if the diameter is slightly smaller than your IEMs). If the diameter is too big however, they will simply fall off, or worse get left in your ears when you remove your IEMs (this is NOT fun!).

You can can check the size before buying by:

• Checking that your IEM is listed as supported by the eartips (the Comply and Spinfit websites have an easy way to show only their tips that fit a given IEM)
• Measuring the diameter of the nozzle of your IEM, and check that your eartips say they are compatible with this diameter, or have an internal diameter that is either the same, or slightly smaller. (The length of the nozzle shouldn't be too important, but you probably want it to not be longer than eartips, or it will stick out)
• Combining the above two: check that your IEM's diameter is the same as a model that your eartips support.

In particular, my Truethear x Crinacle Zero has a very large diameter of 7mm (as opposed to my 4.5mm Sennheiser IE 200) so not as many eartips will fit them, I suspect the Gate and other Zero's are similar.

Great point!
See my post above yours including pictures of the Gate, all the tips I own fit on them.