Best 'Bang for your buck' IEM - Poll

[herr.jemine]

That song has annoying mixing even on speakers. I wouldn't not say it's an IEMs fault for not playing it back pleasingly.

with the Simgot EW300 DSP it sounds nice and spacious and relaxed

 

[mc.god]

That's interesting, I don't like my 7Hz Sonus at all, I just forced myself to listen to music with it, for me there's something wrong with the BA driver (to me, it sucks), the bass is OK, but I don't have a good stage with them, it's just empty to the right and left in between, there's no reverberation that sounds into the depths of the room, I know that's a psychoacoustic thing..
sometimes certain instruments are too loud and disturbing, as an example with the song here:

As I stated it's my personal bias toward Sonus, I like them a lot so I'll always and up using tham as a comparison term when evaluating other iems graphs, independently of price but even more in the same price range. I can't listen them with the linked song at the moment, but others here tryed and liked them as they are son I don't think there is anything congenitally wrong with them, just different subjective preferences and interactions\resonances with own ear canals.

 

[herr.jemine]

yes, based on the recommendation I got the Sonus, I started with the Zero2 and then tried and collected many different types of IEMs, the interesting thing is that they all represent the "soundstage" differently and can change the character of a song, especially with singing voices, with some the voice is stretched more from right to left in the room without reverberation (I often observe this with 1DD IEMs with 10mm driver), and with others the voice sounds more in the head and seems spatial (I often have this with multi-ba driver IEMs), that is all subjective of course but striking and frightening, because what is the song really supposed to "sound" like?

 

[markanini]

with the Simgot EW300 DSP it sounds nice and spacious and relaxed

It's still indicative of an issue with the mix, because a most big label releases will sound acceptable on diverse systems.
They will not be System A:"loud and disturbing elements", System B:"spacious and relaxed"

 

[mc.god]

Sonus at €32 with coupon if anyone willing to try them:
https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005006356207955.html
I'm very very tempted to get my backup unit.

 

[InfiniteJester]

This may be a psychological effect or just a coincidence, but I don't usually like resin IEMs. Metal ones usually sound better for me. As I said, it may be a matter of coincidence, but plastic ones (Zero: 2, Nuo...) always sound... Dulled? I don't know if it is a matter of reflections in the material or what. For me, IEMs sound a little like the material they are made of.

The EW300 DSP with golden nozzles keeps being the best for me, anyway. I don't think you can do much better.

I also like the Delci with the SoundBlaster X1 and the 7.1 virtual surround activated. For me, it sounds like perfection. Sadly, you cannot use that configuration in the phone. You are stuck with X-FI, which is the most awful thing I have ever listened to.

 

[herr.jemine]

This may be a psychological effect or just a coincidence, but I don't usually like resin IEMs. Metal ones usually sound better for me. As I said, it may be a matter of coincidence, but plastic ones (Zero: 2, Nuo...) always sound... Dulled? I don't know if it is a matter of reflections in the material or what. For me, IEMs sound a little like the material they are made of.

I felt the same - my Blessing 3 and the new Topping Hane are also use plastic/resin body but sound great!

The EW300 DSP is awesome - it's almost in the same league as the B3 (soundstage, separation and imaging) - but the EW300 has the better bass range without EQ
If you use the Moondrop FreeDSP cable with the B3 and load the "B3 PEQ-profile" - it's really good but costs three times as much as the EW300 - I'm not sure if that's really necessary.

 

[mc.god]

Since Aliexpress coupons time is on going, I was wandering about some new cheap iems to try, and remembered about Artti R2 being discussed here many pages back.
I checked on @USER squig and found this, normalized at 1 KHz:

that makes the R2 very interesting for what I have in mind.

then going back some pages, @USER posted this when we where talking about the EDC Pro:

Where I can't exactly say the normalization point but the two seem a lor more similar and it would make me pass on the R2.

So I'm asking to @USER how much they actually differ in real listening ad if he would still consider R2 a worth purchase.

Uhm... even though i have spare cables, that stupidly angled 2 pin connectors on the R2 cable is really annoying since I already know I'll have to swap it, and I deeply hate to pay for something I'm never going to use.

 

[InfiniteJester]

Yesterday I was listening to this with the EW300 DSP (golden nozzles) hooked to my Samsung Galaxy with the Dolby Atmos On: https://dominicsanderson.bandcamp.com/album/impermanence

And, mind you, despite being a great album, it is not a marvel of audio production at all; but even then, I got a little sad thinking that the sound I was listening to was, more or less, perfect for my tastes. After expending several thousands of euros on speakers, headphones, DACs, DAPs and IEMs, finally I was listening to a system that didn't bother me in any way. And I realized that it made no sense for me to keep researching and buying stuff. The relatively cheap EW300 DSP is more or less my endgame. It just sounds good in every circumstance. I understand that it has a safe tuning, but I like safe tunings, whereas "resolving" systems give me incredible fatigue. The MP145 is spectacular, the staging is something else with this set, but the treble is peaky and, at times, unnatural; the Kefine Delci is excellent, but, again, has a peak that makes cymbals sometimes stand out in a distracting way. The EW300 is just right for my hearing. No sibilance, no brightness, no bloat (despite being bass-heavy, I guess I'm a basshead after all). The FH9 is bloated and sibilant, the Hydro is just wrong in many ways, the EW200 is too bright, the Zero:2 is strangely subdued and boxy, the Nuo is weird and peaky, the Quintet is the biggest disaster and the worst IEM I own. I'm still waiting for the Kefine Klean to arrive; given how good the Delci is, I'm expecting the Klean to be a great purchase, but, again, it is sad to think that I won't get anything more than what I get with the EW300. I know that the EW300 is "boring", it doesn't get in the way of the music, it doesn't have a gimmicky "WOW factor" that would impress you for ten seconds and fatigue you for the rest of your life, like the 600€ FH9 or the 250€ Quintet. But, for me, it is what it is. I may buy another pair in case this one fails in any way (the cable feels non durable), and that's it, I don't think I'll ever need anything else.

 

[herr.jemine]

yes, the ew300 is amazing - that was the reason for me to try other IEMs - because the EW300 is a step towards perfection - compared to a Sennheiser IE 600 it lacks a bit of clarity and resolution of fine details, but with the IE600 some songs that were not produced so well just sound terribly thin, and some others are bombastic - it is very picky about the source, the new Topping ArpegEar Hane is also going in the right direction - in the delivery state it is clear as water and also so boring, with the adjustable tuning switches it turns into an incredibly good IEM, very large stage, perfect separation, very good mids, soft highs, good resolution and clarity a dream to listen to.

 

[mc.god]

but, again, it is sad to think that I won't get anything more than what I get with the EW300.

Why is it sad? I'd rather say the opposite. Another solved problem, doesn't make you happy?

 

[InfiniteJester]

Why is it sad? I'd rather say the opposite. Another solved problem, doesn't make you happy?

Among other things, because I derived more pleasure with my Sony walkman and some random buds in the '90s than I can derive from almost perfect music reproduction 30 years later. One keeps hoping to find that magic again through research and money; but, alas, le temps détruit tout.

Also, researching and keeping up with the news has been an interesting ride.

 

[herr.jemine]

Yes, I have found that you get better quality if you spend more money (in the right things) - the EW300 costs three times as much as the Zero2 (but it's worth every coin and at around 66-75€ it's not too expensive!). I am excited to see how the Dunu SA6 MK2 will perform when they are delivered. But the fact is that a lot of things are totally overpriced (like 7Hz Timeless AE) - the Sennheiser IE 600 sound really great, but I don't understand why they should cost €600 new... I think Topping will be another player to shake up the IEM market with their products, just like they are doing in the DAC and AMP market.

 

[USER]

Since Aliexpress coupons time is on going, I was wandering about some new cheap iems to try, and remembered about Artti R2 being discussed here many pages back.
I checked on @USER squig and found this, normalized at 1 KHz:

View attachment 403546

that makes the R2 very interesting for what I have in mind.

then going back some pages, @USER posted this when we where talking about the EDC Pro:

Where I can't exactly say the normalization point but the two seem a lor more similar and it would make me pass on the R2.

So I'm asking to @USER how much they actually differ in real listening ad if he would still consider R2 a worth purchase.

Uhm... even though i have spare cables, that stupidly angled 2 pin connectors on the R2 cable is really annoying since I already know I'll have to swap it, and I deeply hate to pay for something I'm never going to use.

That second set is a comparison against PW's EDC Pro results, which as far as I can tell are an outlier as my results match every other squig.link result. The following are the comparison between my copies of the EDC Pro and R2s at different normalization frequencies.

I prefer the R2s stock and with the spring tips.

 

[mc.god]

That second set is a comparison against PW's EDC Pro results, which as far as I can tell are an outlier as my results match every other squig.link result. The following are the comparison between my copies of the EDC Pro and R2s at different normalization frequencies.

View attachment 403731View attachment 403732

I prefer the R2s stock and with the spring tips.

Ok, thank you for the explanation, and I'm with you, R2 seems much more in line with my preference signature as it is.
Anyway, given that cable issue (for me) and that I already own plenty of iems covering slight variations on a similar curve (7Hz Zero, 7Hz Sonus, Truthear Gate, Truthear Hola, Truthear Zero:RED) that I'm totally satisfied of, I came back to sanity and decided to pass on R2, since i actually don't need any more iems.
R2 closely resembles a 7Hz Zero 2 with a bit more energy in the higher region:

so In the eventuality I think I'd go with the 7Hz, that's nearly half the price and I already know they fits me well, or maybe go totally overboard with something more extreme like this for similar price

 

[herr.jemine]

Just staring at FR diagrams is not the way to go, try different driver types instead!

DLC drivers have better resolution and separation than the simple driver types in the cheap IEMs.
The Kelci Delci and Klean use such drivers, among others!

Unfortunately I haven't heard them yet, but I have heard the Topping Hane IEM which also uses a similar driver - and it is a clear improvement over the Zero2!

 

[staticV3]

DLC drivers have better resolution and separation than the simple driver types

Citation needed

 

[herr.jemine]

Citation needed

my ears, maybe yours too - just try it out for yourself and compare..

 

[staticV3]

 

[mc.god]

Just staring at FR diagrams is not the way to go, try different driver types instead!

DLC drivers have better resolution and separation than the simple driver types in the cheap IEMs.
The Kelci Delci and Klean use such drivers, among others!

Unfortunately I haven't heard them yet, but I have heard the Topping Hane IEM which also uses a similar driver - and it is a clear improvement over the Zero2!

Honestly I never put any attention on the DD materials and personally don't think it can make a definite difference. If I'll ever feel the need to try something different, than I'll probably go with a planar one.