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Good sounding IEMs that I tried in CanJam Singapore 2022

Earfonia

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I attended CanJam Singapore 2022 last Saturday and tried some IEMs. Just want to share some IEMs that to my ears sound really good during the short period of testing. Didn't manage to test all brands and models as there are too many of them, but from what I've tried the following IEMs worth a listen when you have the chance.

In alphabetical order:
BGVP DM8 - More or less balanced with a slight warm tuning, very nice mids, super engaging.
Elysian DIVA - Impressive tuning with 3 level tunable bass level. the medium level of the bass setting sounds good for me. Balanced (I guess close to Harman Target) with good clarity, transparency, spaciousness and 3D holographic imaging.
Moondrop Variation - Balanced with mild V shape tuning, pretty close to my neutral target, good dynamic and perceived detail, very engaging.
Moondrop Illumination - Neutral tuning with lean but sufficient bass.
SeeAudio Kaguya - Pretty close to my perceived neutral target tuning, very impressive detail, instrument separation, and 3D holographic spaciousness.
SeeAudio Neo - slightly warmer with more midbass than Kaguya.
Symphonium Triton - Relatively balanced tuning, slightly warm, engaging mids and bass. Silky smooth yet extended treble. Very well tuned.
Tanchjim Ola - Surprisingly very good sounding budget IEM (~ $40), close to my perceived neutral tuning, very good perceived detail and clarity. At this price, a must try (or have). But fitting might be tricky for some, not the best ergonomic. This is the only IEM I bought from CanJam Sgp. 2022 because I curious to see how it measures on my measurement equipment.

Please take the above short impressions with (lots of) grain of salt. It was not easy to get accurate impressions of an IEM in such places like exhibitions with only like 10-20 mins of listening time per IEM. Hopefully one day I can have a second or third listen of those models.
 

Vict0r

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Looking forward to your measurements of the Tanchjim Ola! There's always room for a(nother) budget IEM banger in the collection. :)
 

RHO

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Vict0r

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Interesting, and what a great link! Regarding the Ola; it looks like there's quite a bit of bass drop off. I put my own Aria and BL03 in the comparison, and there's quite a difference.

graph.png
 

rebbiputzmaker

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Many say the OLA are not tuned well. Did you hear the Olina perchance?
 

gabo4au

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Yes that is a great link! Thanks for that RHO. It's amazing to me how similar all the IEM charts are with the low end emphasis varying but the curves are a similar shape, scooped in the mids with a rise around 3k and falling off around 12k.

As a drummer I use IEMs all the time and need good isolation and comfort. Nothing seems to beat the Comply replacement tips for that purpose. The other thing that is that I need them to go solidly down in your ear. I've run across a few that are so big they hit my outer ear preventing me from getting them down in there. In particular a few of the KZ models are like this. And I also need the "around the ear" cable to prevent them from shaking out. Another thing that makes them hard to get down in your ear effectively is the size of the hole in the center. If they have a larger size hole, then it makes it harder to compress the tips enough to get it down in there good. So I always look for a model that the Comply 100 tips will fit as that's the smallest size tip they make. I have a few that have the Comply 400 size tips, they just won't go down and seal good enough to use them.

I've tried many different brands models and although many of them have better sound, I keep coming back to my Shure SE215s for playing drums. They just seem to be the right size, have a good cable, have a smaller inner hole, and are good enough to hear everything. I even have a very expensive pair of Westone's that just aren't as good.

Also, I have a pair of custom molded IEMs and also custom molded ear plugs. I've found they actually don't seal as well as the Comply tips. They fit well, are very comfortable, etc. but they are harder plastic and if I open my mouth just right or wrench my jaw, they leak sound as the seal comes away a bit. The good memory foam tips don't do that and provide better isolation.

gabo
 

RHO

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Yes that is a great link! Thanks for that RHO. It's amazing to me how similar all the IEM charts are with the low end emphasis varying but the curves are a similar shape, scooped in the mids with a rise around 3k and falling off around 12k.

As a drummer I use IEMs all the time and need good isolation and comfort. Nothing seems to beat the Comply replacement tips for that purpose. The other thing that is that I need them to go solidly down in your ear. I've run across a few that are so big they hit my outer ear preventing me from getting them down in there. In particular a few of the KZ models are like this. And I also need the "around the ear" cable to prevent them from shaking out. Another thing that makes them hard to get down in your ear effectively is the size of the hole in the center. If they have a larger size hole, then it makes it harder to compress the tips enough to get it down in there good. So I always look for a model that the Comply 100 tips will fit as that's the smallest size tip they make. I have a few that have the Comply 400 size tips, they just won't go down and seal good enough to use them.

I've tried many different brands models and although many of them have better sound, I keep coming back to my Shure SE215s for playing drums. They just seem to be the right size, have a good cable, have a smaller inner hole, and are good enough to hear everything. I even have a very expensive pair of Westone's that just aren't as good.

Also, I have a pair of custom molded IEMs and also custom molded ear plugs. I've found they actually don't seal as well as the Comply tips. They fit well, are very comfortable, etc. but they are harder plastic and if I open my mouth just right or wrench my jaw, they leak sound as the seal comes away a bit. The good memory foam tips don't do that and provide better isolation.

gabo
Interesting that you have better results with foam tips than with custom IEMs.
Foam tips do indeed seal off very well.

Yes, KZ IEMs tend to have short nozzles, which can be annoying to get a secure fit with. I think you need to look for an IEM with a longer nozzle then.
Personally I have no issue with fitting a bigger diameter nozzle (like on the Moondrop Blessing 2(Dusk)) but I also like it to be a little longer for a more secure fit.
 
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