Best 'Bang for your buck' IEM - Poll

[Blake Klondike]

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.

what sennheisers are you using? i have had half a dozen pair of their iem and i like the sound but the cables fray and break where they attach, over and over again.

 

[markanini]

Truthear Nova's with stock foam tips/Tripowin sprial groove foam tips.

Sure there are cheaper IEM's, but you will always have a reason to upgrade eventually and therefore spend more money in the long run.

Stock tuning is not bad at all (Harman IE 2019, which I find a little too shouty), but where they really shine is EQing them. This word gets thrown around here a lot, but they are genuinely an endgame IEM, as with EQ, they literally do what kilobuck IEM's cannot. This is due to their insanely smooth treble, which is extremely difficult to EQ, and most of the time impossible on most IEMs (which have peaky treble). This makes them one of the most technical IEMs on the market, I think only the Moondrop Variations measure smoother (on 5128), but the difference is marginal and definitely not worth the 5x price difference.

In the UK, they go for around £100 on sale, and has been seen as low as £80 open box (on Amazon).

Another option is Simgot EM6L, not as smooth as Nova's, but smaller (if you have small ears) and you do not have to use foam tips. They still have exceptional technical performance compared to other headphones.

It's unfortunate that Peqbd uses measurements without giving proper credit, making direct comparisons between IEMs unreliable. However, this might not be surprising given that its creator is known as one of the biggest trolls in the online audio community: Reddit - The heart of the internet

 

[InfiniteJester]

I might catch some flak for this, but here’s my take: accurate audio feels boring.

What do we find interesting in a set?

"Punchy" bass: In most cases, that excitement is simply a broad boost below ~100 Hz. Fun at first, but your auditory system adapts quickly; the excess low-frequency energy soon masks detail and muddies pitch definition.

"Hyper-detailed" treble: Detail lives in the time domain, not the EQ knob. What we usually perceive as extra resolution is a shelf or peak above ~8 kHz. Turn it up far enough and you provoke cochlear compression, ringing, and listening fatigue.

"Cavernous" soundstage: A cavernous presentation often comes from a scoop in the critical 1–3 kHz band, the very region where pinna cues and vocal fundamentals sit. Push that dip too deep and the music feels distant, even hollow.

In other words, most head-turning factors are just amplitude tilts, not superior “technicalities.” When the novelty wears off (and it will, because the auditory system is put under greater strain to process the unnatural sound), you audition the next flavor and start the cycle again, investing thousands upon thousands of euros in the pursuit of an unreachable dragon of perfectly impressive audio reproduction.

By contrast, a transducer that tracks a well-researched target sounds… ordinary. Nothing leaps out, because nothing is overstated. Distortion stays low, group delay is controlled, inter-channel matching is tight (and all of those things are mostly solved in IEMs). You find yourself queuing up album after album, losing awareness of the gear. That, in psychoacoustic terms, is high fidelity.

So yes, truly balanced audio is boring. That is why I think the new meta target is very close to accurate.

When I read: JM1 is boring, Hexa is boring, etc. I think: that's precisely the point. A well-calibrated audio system with a neutral frequency response aims to reproduce the original signal without adding its own sonic character. While this may lack the initial "wow" factor of more colored sound signatures, the result is a more accurate and ultimately more rewarding listening experience over the long term.

Also, we are no longer young. When we were young, even badly reproduced music felt euphoric and transcendental. You won't get that feeling back by investing in more expensive equipment. You would be better off investing in anti-ageing research.

No music will ever sound as good as those poorly recorded jazz session bootlegs that my second girlfriend and I listened to while lying in bed for hours, with cheap speakers positioned at a strange angle on the floor of an untreated room.

It is what it is. In my humble opinion, well-tuned things, in audio and in life, are "boring". Poorly-tuned things can be interesting, for a short while. But maybe I'm just old.

Cheers!

 

[CedarX]

accurate audio feels boring.

So the original performance is the most boring of all?
I envy you for having found a path to the holy grail ‘best bang for your buck’ IEM: get the absolute cheapest one, add any random EQ, and you get the most exciting IEM ever…

 

[InfiniteJester]

So the original performance is the most boring of all?
I envy you for having found a path to the holy grail ‘best bang for your buck’ IEM: get the absolute cheapest one, add any random EQ, and you get the most exciting IEM ever…

I have +600€ sets that I don't use because the EW300 EQ'd to IEF 2025 sounds perfectly right for me and are considerably more comfortable. In fact, I used mainly the Kefine Delci EQ'd until the left monitor died.

I have at least 10 sets of +100€. I have own more than 20 sets. I have given away many.

So, yes, that's right. Nothing beats, for example, a Delci with EQ for me. Most comfortable IEM I have owned.

 

[Somafunk]

No music will ever sound as good as those poorly recorded jazz session bootlegs that my second girlfriend and I listened to while lying in bed for hours, with cheap speakers positioned at a strange angle on the floor of an untreated room.

I feel for you, more so for your 2nd Girlfriend being subjected to Jazz sessions whilst lying in bed.

What happened to the first girlfriend?........did she run away with a disco fan?

 

[InfiniteJester]

I feel for you, more so for your 2nd Girlfriend being subjected to Jazz sessions whilst lying in bed.

What happened to the first girlfriend?........did she run away with a disco fan?

 

[markanini]

My pet theory is that a large chunk of listeners aren't personally impressed or emotionally moved by their playlists. Song choices are often limited by external factors, like being socially acceptable or fitting into a social circle. So, it can be helpful to have some unnatural but "fun" frequency tuning profiles to enhance the experience.

 

[Blake Klondike]

I might catch some flak for this, but here’s my take: accurate audio feels boring.

What do we find interesting in a set?

"Punchy" bass: In most cases, that excitement is simply a broad boost below ~100 Hz. Fun at first, but your auditory system adapts quickly; the excess low-frequency energy soon masks detail and muddies pitch definition.

"Hyper-detailed" treble: Detail lives in the time domain, not the EQ knob. What we usually perceive as extra resolution is a shelf or peak above ~8 kHz. Turn it up far enough and you provoke cochlear compression, ringing, and listening fatigue.

"Cavernous" soundstage: A cavernous presentation often comes from a scoop in the critical 1–3 kHz band, the very region where pinna cues and vocal fundamentals sit. Push that dip too deep and the music feels distant, even hollow.

In other words, most head-turning factors are just amplitude tilts, not superior “technicalities.” When the novelty wears off (and it will, because the auditory system is put under greater strain to process the unnatural sound), you audition the next flavor and start the cycle again, investing thousands upon thousands of euros in the pursuit of an unreachable dragon of perfectly impressive audio reproduction.

By contrast, a transducer that tracks a well-researched target sounds… ordinary. Nothing leaps out, because nothing is overstated. Distortion stays low, group delay is controlled, inter-channel matching is tight (and all of those things are mostly solved in IEMs). You find yourself queuing up album after album, losing awareness of the gear. That, in psychoacoustic terms, is high fidelity.

So yes, truly balanced audio is boring. That is why I think the new meta target is very close to accurate.

When I read: JM1 is boring, Hexa is boring, etc. I think: that's precisely the point. A well-calibrated audio system with a neutral frequency response aims to reproduce the original signal without adding its own sonic character. While this may lack the initial "wow" factor of more colored sound signatures, the result is a more accurate and ultimately more rewarding listening experience over the long term.

Also, we are no longer young. When we were young, even badly reproduced music felt euphoric and transcendental. You won't get that feeling back by investing in more expensive equipment. You would be better off investing in anti-ageing research.

No music will ever sound as good as those poorly recorded jazz session bootlegs that my second girlfriend and I listened to while lying in bed for hours, with cheap speakers positioned at a strange angle on the floor of an untreated room.

It is what it is. In my humble opinion, well-tuned things, in audio and in life, are "boring". Poorly-tuned things can be interesting, for a short while. But maybe I'm just old.

Cheers!

i feel like neutrality can be just an accurate starting point? if i feel confident that my IEMs or phones are giving me what's on the record, with very little else, then i am more comfortable making slight changes. we're really lucky, in a sense, not to be stuck with the way the engineer thought he wanted the bass to sound, for instance; we can emphasize other characteristics and hear it the way we like best. for myself, i generally want to hear the record as intended bc i feel like the sound qualities are a part of what makes the record what it is-- part of the original vision. but if i'm listening to some indie recording, for instance, with muddy low-end, it's nice to be able to eq some of that out.

 

[Blake Klondike]

My pet theory is that a large chunk of listeners aren't personally impressed or emotionally moved by their playlists. Song choices are often limited by external factors, like being socially acceptable or fitting into a social circle. So, it can be helpful to have some unnatural but "fun" frequency tuning profiles to enhance the experience

that's an interesting thought-- so how do we recommend people find music that really moves them, if what they're being presented with isn't doing the job?

 

[markanini]

that's an interesting thought-- so how do we recommend people find music that really moves them, if what they're being presented with isn't doing the job?

I don't know, it might be as challenging as asking people to change their sense of fashion or interior design. I believe emotional responses are inherently measurable, and you can't entirely separate them from social factors, which are complex and layered. Ideas like "this genre is pretentious," "that artist is self-indulgent," or "that song doesn't align with my values" influence listening choices. Even before social media, magazines played a role in shaping what many people chose to listen to. Unless you actively decide to broaden your taste, not much can be done externally. Streaming services make it easier than ever to expand your tastes, though algorithms are just as effective at serving you what's already familiar.

 

[InfiniteJester]

My pet theory is that a large chunk of listeners aren't personally impressed or emotionally moved by their playlists. Song choices are often limited by external factors, like being socially acceptable or fitting into a social circle. So, it can be helpful to have some unnatural but "fun" frequency tuning profiles to enhance the experience.

I have often been surprised by audiophiles who seem to know or care little about music.

My own obsession with music is what led me down this path, but I think other people get into this through an interest in engineering or technology and don't seem to be that interested in music.

Yesterday, I listened to this on the aforementioned EQ'd EW300s: https://wippybonstack.bandcamp.com/album/tactile-demons.

It was released this month. It's a sensational album and will probably end up in my top 10 albums of 2025.

 

[AtticReclus3]

Truthear Nova's with stock foam tips/Tripowin sprial groove foam tips.

Sure there are cheaper IEM's, but you will always have a reason to upgrade eventually and therefore spend more money in the long run.

Stock tuning is not bad at all (Harman IE 2019, which I find a little too shouty), but where they really shine is EQing them. This word gets thrown around here a lot, but they are genuinely an endgame IEM, as with EQ, they literally do what kilobuck IEM's cannot. This is due to their insanely smooth treble, which is extremely difficult to EQ, and most of the time impossible on most IEMs (which have peaky treble). This makes them one of the most technical IEMs on the market, I think only the Moondrop Variations measure smoother (on 5128), but the difference is marginal and definitely not worth the 5x price difference.

In the UK, they go for around £100 on sale, and has been seen as low as £80 open box (on Amazon).

Another option is Simgot EM6L, not as smooth as Nova's, but smaller (if you have small ears) and you do not have to use foam tips. They still have exceptional technical performance compared to other headphones.

I love the supermix4 and EM6L for gaming in the 90-120 dollar price bracket... very very detailed and layered with richness for treble and sub bass.

 

[Alexium]

Got KZ ZVX Pro for $10, been listening to them for the past few weeks and I absolutely cannot find anything wrong with them no matter how hard I try. For all I know, and for all my ears are able to hear, this is a perfect IEM. No incentive to go back to my previous daily driver Letshuoer S12 Pro.
Only potential issue to watch out for is the full metal shell is probably made of steel as it's heavier than all my other IEMs, so if you use them outside they'd be shaking more than usual from moving your head. Fit is still secure via the tips, but the shells love to wobble due to their inertia.

It was released this month. It's a sensational album and will probably end up in my top 10 albums of 2025.

Thank you for the recommendation, is there anywhere I could find or follow your list of favorite music??

 

[mc.god]

Got KZ ZVX Pro for $10, been listening to them for the past few weeks and I absolutely cannot find anything wrong with them no matter how hard I try. For all I know, and for all my ears are able to hear, this is a perfect IEM. No incentive to go back to my previous daily driver Letshuoer S12 Pro.
Only potential issue to watch out for is the full metal shell is probably made of steel as it's heavier than all my other IEMs, so if you use them outside they'd be shaking more than usual from moving your head. Fit is still secure via the tips, but the shells love to wobble due to their inertia.


Thank you for the recommendation, is there anywhere I could find or follow your list of favorite music??

Kz EDX Lite seems almost identical and you can get them for 5€ or less, and you don't have to care about metal shell

https://obodio.squig.link/?share=zvx_pro,edx_lite

 

[InfiniteJester]

Thank you for the recommendation, is there anywhere I could find or follow your list of favorite music??

No. But tell me what you like and I will think whether I know anything similar!

 

[pers]

I quite like the sound of the Tangzu Wan'er S.G (v1) + DUNU S&S eartips after EQing the midrange (1kHz - 6kHz) to the “Harman 2025 MoA Average Target” as a base using PEQ on the JCALLY JM12 with TinHifi firmware.

At first, I was worried it would be too harsh on my ears.
So, I tested it with Led Zeppelin's “When the Levee Breaks” 2014 remaster from 2:25 to 3:04, where the guitar sound always made my ears uncomfortable even without EQ.
But this is still tolerable compared to the Harman 2019.

Now I can use it as a complement to my Crinacle Daybreak.

 

[Jiraya369]

I have +600€ sets that I don't use because the EW300 EQ'd to IEF 2025 sounds perfectly right for me and are considerably more comfortable. In fact, I used mainly the Kefine Delci EQ'd until the left monitor died.

I have at least 10 sets of +100€. I have own more than 20 sets. I have given away many.

So, yes, that's right. Nothing beats, for example, a Delci with EQ for me. Most comfortable IEM I have owned.

based on new research, apart from the bass shelf, IEF 2025 is supposed to be accurate in tonality for iems. The bass/treble shelf OR tilt is necessary, individual ear anatomy is different and if adjusted for preference/individual, you get accurate iem sound reproduction. That's the JM-1. IEF 2025 is just JM-1 with Crinacle's tilt/bass and treble shelf.

I use the Moondrop X Crinacle DUSK which closely follows this for the most part and yeah it's great! And THIS tuning is what is called the "meta" tuning.

Therefore, meta tuned iems, if adjusted for a person's preference/anatomy is going to be neutral. And by liking this tuning, you just proved the point that neutral is better

 

[Alexium]

KZ ZVX Pro is damn good bang for your buck at ~$10. It's V-shaped, not neutral, but the tuning is very good in my opinion and I have no desire to EQ it, even though I do EQ most of my IEMs (towards neutral with a sub-base boost).
I also have KZ Vader Pro and AM16, both sound decent but comparing to a more neutral IEM the flaws in the FR are apparent and they benefit quite a bit from EQ. Don't recommend them for this reason, but if bought with a discount and EQed - they're both very good.

Also, buying a bunch of IEMs this summer from $10 to $150, and putting aside Letshuoer S12 Pro for a while that's been my daily driver for 2 years prior, I now have a new appreciation for just how good the S12 Pro is. This is VERY good bang for buck at the sale price of ~$80. It sounds soooo good out of the box! No EQ needed.

 

[muza_1]

For those who like a more relaxed presentation the GK Kunten is an incredible value at $15 but it can be found as low as $4-5, one hell of a bang for your buck.