Best 'Bang for your buck' IEM - Poll

[CedarX]

I'm a junkie of buying IEMs, I have spent thousands of euros in the last two years.

Maybe 5128 doesn't work as well for the rest, I concede that. But after seeing what a HE400SE and an EW200 can do with EQ when I have things that are 30, 40 times more expensive, I cannot rationalize the logic of my constant expense on new gear.

Beyond reasonably quality drivers with no evident distorsion, tuning seems to account for almost everything. And you can achieve a lot with tuning on your own if you have good data.

My only issue is that 711 clone measurements over Squig don't seem to work for me at all. Maybe for some people 5128 measurements are also like that. But it is really worth the try, in my opinion.

I also have way too many IEMs… and I keep buying more, hoping to discover some magic tuning graal (hasn’t happened, so I now try to limit myself to sub-$100 IEMs ).
I wish some OEM would be honest enough to publish a monthly PEQ profile to experience with their entry/mid-level IEMs, with some explanations as what it may achieve.
That’ll be a refreshing approach instead of constantly pushing new models—like KZ/CCA every other week new entry.

 

[muza_1]

JM-1 does not work for me at all I tried multiple tilt and bass boost settings but never sounded good to me at some point it ends with prominent lower-mids, low highs and somewhat hollow sounding and as the tilt approaches 0 the mids start sounding more forward and shouty, never could find a happy medium, I have been experimenting for some time with multiple targets and low-cost IEMs with different tuning and I found out that my preference is for Harman 2019v2 with 1 to 3dB less starting @ 2500Hz (it ends somewhere between Usound and Harman) depending on IEM, plus 1dB more of bass for outdoors listening.

As for the measurements I use for equalization, I have some reviewers that I trust more in squig.link some are taken with the 5128 coupler and some with the 711 one and I can get good results with both, it depends more on the IEM.

I am waiting for the Hydro I am curious of what KZ can do on a bigger budget (although I don't think that having so many drivers make big a difference), also ordered the KZ x Angelears Libra balanced and if is anything like the promo graph it should be a really good low-cost single DD IEM and in the end I think I will go for the GATe too.

I am not ready to start with higher price units again ($100+), I did it some years ago and of those IEMs I kept non*, granted the market was nothing like today but it still stings besides I think some (if not a lot) of high priced ($2-300 and up) are just plain scams, they may have good sound but nothing other worldly for the price and there no need to pay for tuning when you can EQ a reasonable response low distortion unit especially with the proliferation of good measurements.

*Except the for the Shure E5c that I keep as a reminder, it is really really really bad and I payed $780 ($1,300 today adjusted for inflation) for it after import fees and delivery at the time (2003) with no option for returning it.

 

[muza_1]

That’ll be a refreshing approach instead of constantly pushing new models—like KZ/CCA every other week new entry.

I think that although is not a good practice it pushes innovation to some degree they can only sell the same driver dressed differently so many times.

Also I think that they are going in the right direction with the tuning switches (I cannot understand why a lot of people dislike them), how many times people listen to an IEM and think, if only it the bass (or highs) were a bit lower (or higher) it would be the perfect IEM, if they keep refining them we might end up with an IEM that does not require EQ.
Also I think is a better idea having the tuning tools integrated in the IEM rather than a DSP cables or tuning nuzzles.

 

[InfiniteJester]

JM-1 does not work for me at all I tried multiple tilt and bass boost settings but never sounded good to me at some point it ends with prominent lower-mids, low highs and somewhat hollow sounding and as the tilt approaches 0 the mids start sounding more forward and shouty, never could find a happy medium, I have been experimenting for some time with multiple targets and low-cost IEMs with different tuning and I found out that my preference is for Harman 2019v2 with 1 to 3dB less starting @ 2500Hz (it ends somewhere between Usound and Harman) depending on IEM, plus 1dB more of bass for outdoors listening.

As for the measurements I use for equalization, I have some reviewers that I trust more in squig.link some are taken with the 5128 coupler and some with the 711 one and I can get good results with both, it depends more on the IEM.

I am waiting for the Hydro I am curious of what KZ can do on a bigger budget (although I don't think that having so many drivers make big a difference), also ordered the KZ x Angelears Libra balanced and if is anything like the promo graph it should be a really good low-cost single DD IEM and in the end I think I will go for the GATe too.

I am not ready to start with higher price units again ($100+), I did it some years ago and of those IEMs I kept non*, granted the market was nothing like today but it still stings besides I think some (if not a lot) of high priced ($2-300 and up) are just plain scams, they may have good sound but nothing other worldly for the price and there no need to pay for tuning when you can EQ a reasonable response low distortion unit especially with the proliferation of good measurements.

*Except the for the Shure E5c that I keep as a reminder, it is really really really bad and I payed $780 ($1,300 today adjusted for inflation) for it after import fees and delivery at the time (2003) with no option for returning it.

Have you tried DF -0.8dB tilt and around 8dB bass boost? I switch between JM-1 and that.

The Hydro is pretty decent. I would take them over the FH9, because you can tune them easily with the switches and they cause no fatigue. Although the bass is not as satisfactory for me (you can get a lot of quantity with the switches but doesn't seem to get as deep as with the FH9) and they are quite uncomfortable.

I started with 1110 but I'm using more the 1000 configuration lately.

It wouldn't surprise me if they had relatively high distortion at around 3-5 kHz, because you certainly hear something peculiar (BA timbre?). But the whole thing is very relaxed and tasteful. I use them quite a bit. But, for a similar price, I still prefer the MP145, which I don't even EQ, they seem to be closer to USound, which is one of the targets I seem to like the most, and, despite also being huge and heavy, are more comfortable to me. With the MP145 I some times feel as if listening to open headphones. They are my favorite IEM by far.

Also, the tips from the Hydro are absolutely terrible.

With the FH9 I use the JM-1 with Harman filters that you can download on AutoEQ.app, btw.

 

[muza_1]

Have you tried DF -0.8dB tilt and around 8dB bass boost? I switch between JM-1 and that.

Yes I tried both DF and JM-1 on 7Hz Zero:2, Truthear Zero, Zero: RED, Hola and Moondrop Chu II all with 5128 measurements from Crinacle and all came out with too much mid-bass not enough highs and thick sounding (I wrongly refer to it as hollow in the past response) and when compared to Harman 2019 (with a bit less high-end) all sounded much more natural and gave the same feeling as listening to speakers (minus sound stage, scale and spaciousness).

I am still waiting for the Hydro (I got them for $78) but just by looking at measurements I think I am going to like the Trio more (I also like DDs), the Hidizs I have not heard but I am going to wait a bit to start buying again also for me the thing with planars is isolation, I mostly listen outdoors.

I try to limit my purchases to less than $100 because I mostly use IEMs for walks/runs and just sometimes for late night listening and yes I am curious about high-priced TOTL IEMs but I know that they are not going to get the use they deserve for the price.

Also, the tips from the Hydro are absolutely terrible.

I know, all KZ have horrible tips and cables but I don't mind if the cost goes to the IEM itself, like a lot of us I've accumulated a ton of tips and cables over the years.

 

[InfiniteJester]

Yes I tried both DF and JM-1 on 7Hz Zero:2, Truthear Zero, Zero: RED, Hola and Moondrop Chu II all with 5128 measurements from Crinacle and all came out with too much mid-bass not enough highs and thick sounding (I wrongly refer to it as hollow in the past response) and when compared to Harman 2019 (with a bit less high-end) all sounded much more natural and gave the same feeling as listening to speakers (minus sound stage, scale and spaciousness).

I am still waiting for the Hydro (I got them for $78) but just by looking at measurements I think I am going to like the Trio more (I also like DDs), the Hidizs I have not heard but I am going to wait a bit to start buying again also for me the thing with planars is isolation, I mostly listen outdoors.

I try to limit my purchases to less than $100 because I mostly use IEMs for walks/runs and just sometimes for late night listening and yes I am curious about high-priced TOTL IEMs but I know that they are not going to get the use they deserve for the price.


I know, all KZ have horrible tips and cables but I don't mind if the cost goes to the IEM itself, like a lot of us I've accumulated a ton of tips and cables over the years.

How old are you and how good is your hearing?

Most IEMs are too bright and fatiguing for me.

Kiwi Ears Quintet lefts me completely exhausted, for example.

I'm 31 and I have allegedly perfect hearing (according to the doctor, although I doubt it, as I have tinnitus in my right ear).

 

[muza_1]

I am 54 years old and I can hear up to around 14-15kHz on the right ear and 12-13kHz on the left (last time I checked not too long ago) and because of an infection when I was young I am more sensible to treble and have mild tinnitus in the left also have a bit on the right but really non intrusive. I have been using protection for concerts and loud events for a long time now and I listen at low to mid levels.

I am sensible to treble but it depends on the IEM to me the Zero:2 are more fatiguing than the Trio which are way brighter, with headphones (which I don't use a lot) I am less sensible.

Edit: I also had problems with the Zero: RED they gave me big tinnitus flare ups but I didn't realize it was the IEM until I went to the doctor I thought it was an infection, the doctor told me that probably they were causing some kind of sympathetic resonance (I think is the correct term in English) with my ear drum and that I should not use them anymore (of course I cheat, I use them for comparisons for short times) and to check for the signs every new IEM, so far it hasn't happened with any of the new ones.

 

[Curupira]

I'm a junkie of buying IEMs, I have spent thousands of euros in the last two years.

Maybe 5128 doesn't work as well for the rest, I concede that. But after seeing what a HE400SE and an EW200 can do with EQ when I have things that are 30, 40 times more expensive, I cannot rationalize the logic of my constant expense on new gear.

Beyond reasonably quality drivers with no evident distorsion, tuning seems to account for almost everything. And you can achieve a lot with tuning on your own if you have good data.

My only issue is that 711 clone measurements over Squig don't seem to work for me at all. Maybe for some people 5128 measurements are also like that. But it is really worth the try, in my opinion.

I'm with you all the way. I have spent a lot of money up until the $550 mark and am convinced that FR in iems accounts to pretty much everything, specially if you are open to do sweeps to find your own ear's modes. Personally I'm now listening the a Timeless AE, an EQed Blessing 3 and a TRN conch, and I'm hard pressed to say they sound all that different "technically". Not only that, when EQed, they sound pretty much the same to my ears.

Beforehand I hadn't been able to replicate the blessing's/variations/timeless extension and "detail" with cheaper SOTA iems like the Zero 2 or the Red's, but in hindsight that is really due to HF quirkness and their own interaction with my ears, the zero 2s having short nozzles. In this sense, the Timeless sound somewhat "bigger" than the TRN and the Blessing 3 because I'm not able to get as deep a fit. And that's it, really. What detail I see in the Blessing and the Timeless vs. the 20$ I payed on the Zero 2 is really overemphasized higher frequencies that actually change the timbre and tonal balance, giving an ilusion of "shimmeringness" and resolution. Once I reached that with a low distortion single DD like the Conch, the upper models stopped making that much sense economically:

You can also see the upper HF ploy being extensively done in kilobuck iems all time, like the Subtonic Storm everyone is raving about:

 

[JB6789]

Well, I now own three of the most famous and best regarded budget IEMs: 7Hz Zero:2, Simgot EW200 and Ziigaat Nuo.

And, in my opinion, it is not worth it to buy any of them. They all suck in one way or another. EW200s would be the best of the bunch, but their driver flex is insane and, given how little they are and how weird they fit, you will need to reposition them constantly, suffering the screeching sound of the driver trying to run away from you, like nails on a board, inside your ears. So Nuos end up being better, despite their generally irritating plastic sound. Zero:2s are the worst of the bunch by a large margin.

There is, apparently, no such thing as a giant killer. The MP145s are awesome, and beyond that you won't see much difference with 600€ IEMs. But the difference between cheap IEMs and 150-200€ IEMs is completely audible and it is better to forget about cheap products if you really care about music.

These cheap IEMs may be fine for commuting, so you don't care if they get lost or damaged, or even stolen at some sordid underground station. But I will never listen to them at home.

Are cheap IEMs worth the money for enjoying music?

No. They are not.

Are MP145s really worth 7 or 8 times what cheap IEMs cost? Absolutely.

I tuned every IEM to the same target, USound1v1. So either FR is not everything or the measurements online are way off.

MP145's are deserving of their near-universal praise. However, at under $60, the ARTTI T10's (another new planar) are my choice on price/performance. I own both, enjoy both. I would give a slight preference to the MP145 on design/build quality over the lighter plastic shell T10's. However, the T10's are light and comfortable for long listening sessions.

 

[staticV3]

First GATE impressions are pretty bad:

Truthear Gate

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[muza_1]

For all of you that enjoy a Harman-ish type of sound try the KZ Libra Balanced ($12) (no measurements yet), it's not just a bang for the buck IEM it's a good IEM, they look cheap, small and are almost weightless but they are well made and feel sturdy for the price, they are very comfortable, I have been using them instead of the Trio for outdoors on windy days (no wind noise), the sound signature is close except for bass presentation.

Also a few days ago I received the CCA Hydro ($120), it was a disappointment, it was a bit bright and the highs sounded unnatural, there was a small channel imbalance too (also after a while they become fatiguing and triggered my tinnitus), I prefer the CCA Trio ($20) by a large margin. I really try to like them but in the end I kept coming back to the Trio.

 

[InfiniteJester]

For all of you that enjoy a Harman-ish type of sound try the KZ Libra Balanced ($12) (no measurements yet), it's not just a bang for the buck IEM it's a good IEM, they look cheap, small and are almost weightless but they are well made and feel sturdy for the price, they are very comfortable, I have been using them instead of the Trio for outdoors on windy days (no wind noise), the sound signature is close except for bass presentation.

Also a few days ago I received the CCA Hydro ($120), it was a disappointment, it was a bit bright and the highs sounded unnatural, there was a small channel imbalance too (also after a while they become fatiguing and triggered my tinnitus), I prefer the CCA Trio ($20) by a large margin. I really try to like them but in the end I kept coming back to the Trio.

How sad, I think that the Hydro is fairly good for the price. Have you tried 1000 and 1100 configurations? They do have a little more ear gain that I would find perfect, though. Every day I stray further away from ear gain on IEMs.

 

[muza_1]

How sad, I think that the Hydro is fairly good for the price. Have you tried 1000 and 1100 configurations? They do have a little more ear gain that I would find perfect, though.

Yes I tried every combination the one I liked more was 1110 (I think mid-bass was less than others but without loosing too much bass), 1100 was too mid-bassy, 1000 was similar but with less mid-bass, in 1111 mids and highs were too forward and it was the brightest one (anything with the first two switches off (except 0000) was way to bright and forward), on the configurations I liked the overall tuning was good the problem were always the unnatural highs (and the little bit forward lower-highs) and like you I think the pinna gain* was a bit elevated, for me the Trio 1110 (after experimenting with the switches over time) sounds more natural and relaxed than the Hydro.
Also the imbalance was not big but it was noticeable images were pulled a bit to the left.

Every day I stray further away from ear gain on IEMs.

Some time ago I tried a couple of IEMs (hybrids) with low pinna gain (Explorer-like) but for me although more spacious, they sounded a bit distant, bland and light, even if I'm somewhat treble sensitive I like a present and clear treble (difficult balance I know), but it has been a while I should try again who knows maybe my preferences shifted over time (and age).

(While writing this I realized that I never quite liked any IEM with BAs in them, I believe is coincidence but who knows.)

*I like a pinna gain of +8 to 10dB but it depends a lot on the IEM overall response.

 

[muza_1]

How sad, I think that the Hydro is fairly good for the price. Have you tried 1000 and 1100 configurations? They do have a little more ear gain that I would find perfect, though. Every day I stray further away from ear gain on IEMs.

I think I found the reason for the imbalance of the Hydro and it also might affect the sound quality in some way, it has different filter in each side. Also the glue on one side is too much and noticeable.
It's a shame that this happens with a $120 IEM and no with all the $5 to $20 KZ IEMs that I own.

 

[InfiniteJester]

I think I found the reason for the imbalance of the Hydro and it also might affect the sound quality in some way, it has different filter in each side. Also the glue on one side is too much and noticeable.
It's a shame that this happens with a $120 IEM and no with all the $5 to $20 KZ IEMs that I own.
View attachment 374380View attachment 374381
EDIT. Could you please check which one is in yours so I can check if one of the other KZ/CCA has the same one and swap it to check if it makes a difference, thanks.

WOW, man. You are 100% correct.

I feel ashamed for not noticing a thing.

This is one of the trashiest things I have ever seen in this industry.

 

[muza_1]

This is one of the trashiest things I have ever seen in this industry.

Yes it is, they look the exactly the same even the glue on one side, shame on them, I just checked all my other KZ/CCA IEMs and all have the same filters with no glue residue or any thing out of the ordinary.

EDIT. Even the ones on "3x pack" sales on AliExpress I got for $5 (D-Fi/ZVX) have no issues of QC.
Going by today standards, they are going to call it a feature not a mistake.

 

[mc.god]

Going by today standards, they are going to call it a feature not a mistake

They know your ear canals are not equal and took account of it for you.

This is embarrassing...

 

[muza_1]

I decided to try again the Hydro with 1100 as suggested (1000,1100, are close, as far as I can tell only the bass change, 1110 adds a little bit more highs with a bit less mid-bass) and if a little bass heavy the tuning sounds good to me (the lower-highs are a bit forward though), I think I was not wowed by the Hydro because the difference with the Trio is very small, in fact I find the Trio smoother and more relaxed. The Trio/Vader Balanced at $20 are a steal.
I'm returning the Hydro and buying something different (brand and tune-wise) this time.

 

[InfiniteJester]

I decided to try again the Hydro with 1100 as suggested (1000,1100, are close, as far as I can tell only the bass change, 1110 adds a little bit more highs with a bit less mid-bass) and if a little bass heavy the tuning sounds good to me (the lower-highs are a bit forward though), I think I was not wowed by the Hydro because the difference with the Trio is very small, in fact I find the Trio smoother and more relaxed. The Trio/Vader Balanced at $20 are a steal.
I'm returning the Hydro and buying something different (brand and tune-wise) this time.

Even with the insane scammy behaviour, they still created something that is better than the Kiwi Ears Quintet. I can only defend myself by saying that after listening to those everything else sounded superb.

 

[zonk]

If someone is interested in the measurements of the Truthear Hexa by oratory1990.

Link to Truthear Hexa measurements