Help Me Pick an In-Ear

[finrodfelagund]

Hello there.

My Shure Se215's look like they're definitely dead after a break to in-ear music listening and I'm looking for a new in-ear pair but am totally clueless. I'll be listening on phone for now but thinking swapping to a Walkman or a music player of some quality. What would you recommend for about 350-400 usd, preferrably cabled ? I'd prefer in-ear 99% of the time unless that specific over-ear headphone model is the best piece of price/performance ever in my budget bracket.

I'll be listening to progrock/techno(or whatever genre is Perturbator and Carpenter Brut) mostly and occasionally jazz thrown in.

 

[staticV3]

Blessing 2 Dusk, if your ears have space for the huge shell and nozzle.

 

[digitalfrost]

XENNS Mangird Tea 2.

 

[Soundstage]

Very happy with the AirPods Pro 2.

 

[finrodfelagund]

Very happy with the AirPods Pro 2.

Airpods are out of question for me as they're Apple products

Blessing 2 Dusk, if your ears have space for the huge shell and nozzle.

Space isn't an issue for shell but nozzle might be a problem but there is always smaller foams, I hope. Thanks for your recommendation. Both Blessing 2 and Tea2 look good with Tea2 with a bit more positive reviews.

 

[Soundstage]

What is the problem with Apple products?

 

[staticV3]

Thanks for your recommendation. Both Blessing 2 and Tea2 look good with Tea2 with a bit more positive reviews.

They graph almost the same, with the Dusk having a bit more upper mids and treble:

 

[staticV3]

What is the problem with Apple products?

They don't work well with non-Apple products and are e-waste generators with their non-replaceable batteries.

 

[finrodfelagund]

Also Apple is the instigator of many anti-customer policies and ugly UI styles.

 

[markanini]

I wouldn't recommend any IEM in that price range, the market moves very fast, way faster than the average users upgrade paths. I've heard from several that collect costly sets ending up daily driving a $20 IEM.

 

[finrodfelagund]

I don't seek to replace it twice or thrice in
I'm looking for the best or close enough IEM that I will use for a few years or until it breaks. I'll use it only outdoors as I have an old but trusty 2+1 set at home and car speakers are a simply better choice when driving anyways.

 

[Dunring]

I use the Truthear Crinnacle Zero and would never sell them. The only one left I really want to try is the Yincrow Calf, since the X6 is such a great value for money.

 

[finrodfelagund]

I use the Truthear Crinnacle Zero and would never sell them. The only one left I really want to try is the Yincrow Calf, since the X6 is such a great value for money.

I assume X6 is DUNU VULKAN X6 or is it Yincrow X6 ?

By the way, Shure, Sennheiser or Sony just is not viable in this price bracket ? Never seen them recommended beside some high end IEMs.

 

[staticV3]

By the way, Shure, Sennheiser or Sony just is not viable in this price bracket ?

Sennheiser IE200 isn't bad:

Link

Shure and Sony however don't have anything competitive in the price bracket afaik.

 

[finrodfelagund]

Actually IE200 or IE400 Pro might be better choice for me as they're available domestically while B2Dusk is somehow not sold by likes of Amazon. Tried to compare 400 Pro with B2D but graphs don't matter much when I don't know what to look for.

 

[staticV3]

Tried to compare 400 Pro with B2D but graphs don't matter much when I don't know what to look for.

Crinacle has a nice Graphs 101: Link
Solderdude also has an article on frequency response: Link

Highly recommend them both. You'll be able to make more informed purchasing decisions.

The IE400 Pro for example looks pretty bad.

 

[GaryH]

They graph almost the same, with the Dusk having a bit more upper mids and treble:
View attachment 277018

In no world is that 'almost the same' response.

 

[staticV3]

In no world is that 'almost the same' response.

sure, whatever you say

 

[GaryH]

It's absolutely absurd to claim a broadband (more audible) difference over nearly the entire treble where our hearing is more sensitive of up 7.4 dB around 5 kHz is 'almost the same'

When will people learn how to read frequency responses properly and stop being fooled by these stupidly vertically squashed aspect ratios on Crinacle's graphs that make every headphone/IEM look better than it is and more similar to others than they actually are?

 

[markanini]

sure, whatever you say

An 8dB difference on a coupler at 5kHz will most probably be audible in person. I mentioned in an other thread how people giving advice about the $200+ market are less picky than you would think. There will be barely any incentive for manufacturers to deliver any tangible sound quality benefit for costlier sets at this rate.