Best 'Bang for your buck' IEM - Poll

[markanini]

Truthear Hola deserves a mention, great tuning that's maybe not ultra articulate in the vocals, but gets the treble right where many have issues. Also the Hola cable is probably the one I'll use on any future IEMs. FWIW I preferred Hola over Waner, Kiwi Cadenza and Moondrop Quarks DSP.

 

[Ken Tajalli]

The Truthear Zero (or the Red) is a solid bet from a sound perspective BUT its very hard to wear/ find the right tips for a lot of people. The best description I saw was by another user on here who described it as "hangs by the tip" which is not a great proposition for an on the go/ mobile set. Nothing worse than having to fiddle with something in your ear constantly.

Of course, others dont seem to have this problem so YMMV if you pick these .

I never liked my Zero's! it wasn't the fit. tonality is off in a weird way, no amount of EQing could fix it. sound was brittle and hard.
Up for sale if anybody wants it, almost zero mileage! (PM me, in UK).

 

[Jimbob54]

@Jimbob54 these arrived a few minutes ago and they fit, and as I suspected tight but doable. You probably already know but you sort of turn them inside out, I add just a touch of spit on the tube hole end of the flange hole and then starting at the edge twist and downward push over the lug. The Salnotes has a ridge but these go over it.

https://www.amazon.com.au/EKIND-Isolate-Silicone-Connector-Earphone/dp/B07L2TTW13/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20OI0B3CAWQR5&keywords=ekind+triple+flange&qid=1684715984&sprefix=ekind+triple+flange%2Caps%2C255&sr=8-1

Think I have some similar so might try your rather perverted fitting technique

 

[Chyżwar]

My favorites are ER2XR and Wan'er, both are great not only in their price range.

 

[IAtaman]

I never liked my Zero's! it wasn't the fit. tonality is off in a weird way, no amount of EQing could fix it. sound was brittle and hard.
Up for sale if anybody wants it, almost zero mileage! (PM me, in UK).

Similar feelings here, not for Zero though but for IEMs in general. Can give away all of them and keep the Etymotics only. Everything else is giving me a headache.

 

[Ken Tajalli]

Similar feelings here, not for Zero though but for IEMs in general. Can give away all of them and keep the Etymotics only. Everything else is giving me a headache.

Not me. I like my Sennheiser's! I can wear them on long flights, and the noise blocking can come in handy.
Not only that, but I have an old pair of Q-jays, recently I dug them up, and they sound decent too. It is just that the Zero's (crinnacle), measured so well, and it seemed such a bargain, that has left me deflated after listening to them for a couple of days, before deciding, they are not for me.
I tried to like them, but couldn't.

 

[GPJ]

For me the Blon BL-03 remains some of the best value / bang for your buck in IEM audio.
>$50 range might have a lot of new contenders though, but for <$50 it is King .

That is inexpesive for certain .... @$27

BLON BL-03

10mm Carbon Diaphragm Dynamic Driver BLON BL-03 Earphones adopts the carbon diaphragm dynamic driver which can fully reduce the strong human voice drum point of mid-low frequency, restore a shocking low frequency sound effect. You can fully enjoy a magnetic bass experience. Kirsite Mirror...

www.linsoul.com

 

[bithalver1]

KZ PR2 if you like V shaped FR.
Hard to drive, yes.

 

[posvibes]

Think I have some similar so might try your rather perverted fitting technique

Yep, as soon as I started typing I knew it wasn't going to end well. The things we do for audiophilia.

 

[Fahzz]

Oh Man-I saw this poll immediately AFTER ordering TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero:RED. They are winning right now-fingers crossed.

 

[FrantzM]

I haven't had a lot of experience with IEM's, but have had a handful with no great success, mainly due to ill fitting tips.

Of the list I can only speak to the Truthear Blues and the Salnotes both of which are phenomenal out of the box, but in the thread on the Salnotes, there is a PEQ offered by one of the posters (sorry forgot who) that make the Salnotes a high end product.

For me the biggest breakthrough that added to my thorough enjoyment of both and made the zero's performance even more enjoyable was the discovery of triple flange silicon ear tips.

Zero - triple flange silicon tips - Paul Simon's acoustic guitar on 7 psalms = Heaven.

URL or Amazon links for the triples flange ear tips, please?

Peace.

 

[Jimbob54]

URL or Amazon links for the triples flange ear tips, please?

Peace.

Links to Aus amazon but there's plenty in UK https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...ang-for-your-buck-iem-poll.44898/post-1600047

 

[doctorjuggles]

I listened to the Zero:Red at the Munich High End show and was very impressed by them, absolute bargain at $55. I prefer it to the Blon by some distance

 

[oleg87]

From my humble little collection:

Best value - Wan'er ($20), Cadenza ($35). The Hola seems tuned very similarly so I'm sure I'd like it as well.
Not my thing - Truthear Zero OG (shouty, source-sensitive frequency response), ER2XR (don't like the fit and it sounds worse than the $20 IEMs)
Regret buying - Aria, Chu (QC, piercing treble)

 

[digitalfrost]

From my humble little collection:

Best value - Wan'er ($20), Cadenza ($35). The Hola seems tuned very similarly so I'm sure I'd like it as well.
Not my thing - Truthear Zero OG (shouty, source-sensitive frequency response), ER2XR (don't like the fit and it sounds worse than the $20 IEMs)
Regret buying - Aria, Chu (QC, piercing treble)

I feel our tastes are similar, if you wanna spend some bucks take a look at the XENNS Mangird Tea 2, I love mine.

 

[asrUser]

From my humble little collection:

Best value - Wan'er ($20), Cadenza ($35). The Hola seems tuned very similarly so I'm sure I'd like it as well.
Not my thing - Truthear Zero OG (shouty, source-sensitive frequency response), ER2XR (don't like the fit and it sounds worse than the $20 IEMs)
Regret buying - Aria, Chu (QC, piercing treble)

Aria OG should be pretty similar to Hola so I don't get you. No, its treble is not piercing. It's more of a dark sound.

 

[TimW]

I own the Moodrop Chu, 7Hz Salnotes Zero, and the original Truthear x Crinacle Zero. I also own the Truthear Hola, QKZ x HBB Khan, and ordered the KZ PR2 recently.

One channel of the Chu stopped working after just a few months of use, probably because of the cable which isn't removable. I wasn't a fan of its treble anyway so even though it is cheap, I wouldn't say it has the best bang for the buck.

The Truthear Zero is great, my favorite sounding of the bunch. I like it with the included foam tips and I think the cable and carrying bag are the best out of any of these others.

With that being said I voted for the 7Hz Zero. The tips and cable are meh and there is no case. No deep bass rumble like the Truthear Zero either. But they sound very neutral, not lacking in detail, not distorted, they just put out clean natural sounding music. For half the price of the original Truthear Zero, I think they are the Bang for the Buck kings.

 

[oleg87]

Aria OG should be pretty similar to Hola so I don't get you. No, its treble is not piercing. It's more of a dark sound.

It is similar to the other IEMs I mentioned through most of the frequency range, but I hear a big peak somewhere above 10KHz I find quite fatiguing. Might be a unit (or human?) variation thing. But it's also kind of irrelevant because I can't listen to them for longer than an hour without one of the channels getting really quiet.

 

[posvibes]

I own the Moodrop Chu, 7Hz Salnotes Zero, and the original Truthear x Crinacle Zero. I also own the Truthear Hola, QKZ x HBB Khan, and ordered the KZ PR2 recently.

One channel of the Chu stopped working after just a few months of use, probably because of the cable which isn't removable. I wasn't a fan of its treble anyway so even though it is cheap, I wouldn't say it has the best bang for the buck.

The Truthear Zero is great, my favorite sounding of the bunch. I like it with the included foam tips and I think the cable and carrying bag are the best out of any of these others.

With that being said I voted for the 7Hz Zero. The tips and cable are meh and there is no case. No deep bass rumble like the Truthear Zero either. But they sound very neutral, not lacking in detail, not distorted, they just put out clean natural sounding music. For half the price of the original Truthear Zero, I think they are the Bang for the Buck kings.

Couldn't agree more, and I too voted for the 7Hz zero despite my love for Crinacle zero, bang for buck is Salnotes 7 from those that I have heard in the list.

 

[johnp98]

Couldn't agree more, and I too voted for the 7Hz zero despite my love for Crinacle zero, bang for buck is Salnotes 7 from those that I have heard in the list.

I just got the 7Hz Salnotes Zero as they are just so cheap and they defiantly did not disappoint! Super happy with them. Now just to see if I will cave and buy the REDs when they come out.