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List of Chinese IEM manufacturers

sand_bit

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Without a doubt Chinese made IEMs have become really popular in the last couple of years, I thought I would attempt to make a master list here.

A few well known ones to start off:
  • Moondrop (水月雨) - est 2014
    • Kanas (2018), Kanas Pro Edition (2018), KXXS (2019), Moondrop (2019), Aria v2 (2021)
      • Harman tuned
    • SSR (2020), SSP (2020)
      • Diffuse tuned, and diffuse w/ bass boost respectively
    • Blessing (2018), Blessing 2 (2020)
      • mid end
    • A8 (2018), S8 (2019)
      • high end
    • And their partner company "SoftEars" for ultra high end IEMs
    • anime drawings on their boxes
    • Probably the best recieved of the Chinese Audio brands
  • TinAudio/TinHiFi (天天动听) - (formerly TTPOD est 2008, started IEMs in 2013)
    • T1 (2013), T2 (2014) - NOT the well known T2
    • T2 (metal shelled T2 2017), T3 (2018), T4 (2019), T2 Pro (2019), T2 Plus (2020), T5 (2021)
    • P1 (2019), P2 (2020)
      • planar
    • Became quite popular towards the start of 2018
  • TFZ/THE FRAGRANT ZITHER (锦瑟香也) - est 2015
    • Leadership formerly part of the TTPOD team (up until 2016 H1)
    • Series 1/3/4/5; BALANCE 2/4/6, EXCLUSIVE 1/3/5, Queen, King (Pro), T1/T2, SECRET GARDEN,
    • Generally bass boosted, otherwise harman-ish tuned
  • Tanchjim (天使吉米) - est 2017?
    • Darkside (2017), Oxygen (2019), Hana (2020)
      • Harman tuned
    • Blues (2019), Cora (2019)
      • budget
    • Darling (2021)
      • high end
    • anime drawings on their boxes. According to Moondrop CEO, he is a friend of Tanchjim's CEO
  • KZ - est 2012
    • Also their sub-brands CCA, and Tripowin
    • Far too many IEMs to count, generally high frequency boosted. As many BA drivers as possible for as cheap as possible.


  • XiaoMi (小米) - est 2010, came to prominence with the first piston (2013?)
    • Piston (2013), Piston 2 (2013), Piston 3 (2015), Hybrid Pro HD (2017), Pro 2 (2019)
    • Countless small revisions, became popular in english forums in ~2014/2015 with their Piston 2
  • QDC (其力音频) - est 2015
  • Shuoer (铄耳) - est 2016
  • THIEAUDIO (Linsoul in-house brand) - est 2020
  • Hidizs (凯泰) - est 2013
  • Fiio (飞傲) - est 2007
  • TRN (佐度声学) - est 2017
  • NF Audio (宁梵声学) - est 2014
  • DUNU/Delicate, Unique & Utmost (达音科) - est 2004
  • iBasso (艾巴索) - est 2006
  • SeeAudio () - est 2020?
    • Not really a company, custom IEM workshop on taobao?
  • KINERA - est 2017?
    • QOA/Queen Of Audio is their associated brand
    • Also not a company, custom IEM workshop on taobao?
  • AUGLAMOUR (徕声) - est 2018?
  • PMV () - est 2015?
  • D&R/Dream Rabbit (梦想兔) - est 2017?
  • HiBy (海贝) - est 2011
  • Skald (诗者) - est 2018?
  • OpenAudio/OA (睿声科技) - est 2018
    • Drug inspired IEM names - Khat, Ecstasy, Marijuana, KETAMINE
  • TENHZ/simphonio (十赫兹声学) - est 2018
  • MOJI/MOJI MONICA - est 2020
  • BQEYZ (先超声学) - est 2015
  • JQ
    • Not really a company, custom IEM workshop on taobao?
  • BLON (宝龙) - est 2019?
  • RAPTGO (天键通讯) - est 2018
  • Fearless audio (无畏定制) - est 2016?
    • Was a custom IEM workshop, now a company?
  • Mangird Audio/Xenns (弦仕音频) - est 2014
  • BGVP (能匠电子) - est 2018
  • 7HZ (七赫兹) - est 2019?
  • SHOZY (森韵) - est 2016?
  • NAGA Audio - est 2017?
  • TONEKING (天魁) - est 2019?
  • Tipsy (哈音科技) - est 2015?
  • PeacockAudio (雀音匠) - est 2020?
  • Seda plateada (心境声学) - est ?
  • TPGrow (功捐健康科技) - est 2016
  • Temperament (凯声科技/智通) - est ?
  • Aune (奥莱尔) - est ?
  • OEAudio
  • Astrotec (阿思翠) - est ?
  • Unique Melody (珠海声浪) - est 2014
  • Tralucent/Ranko (传神/龙格) - est ?
  • JadHiFi/Jupiter Audio (朱庇特音频)
    • cement (concrete?) shelled IEMs
  • Clotaudio - est 2018
  • Artvano (艺听) - est 2008
  • PISLO (平头佬)
    • custom shelled earbuds? seriously weird
  • EPZ
  • xDuoo
  • FAudio
  • HIFIMAN
  • KBEAR
  • Superheer (舒赫)
  • Vsonic (威索尼) - est 1980
Question marks (?) indicate uncertainty, but dates are usually using the first product review that I can find if not specified.
For a near complete list see here or here or here or here. In the links there are also several companies making DAC/AMPs/Headphones.

Please comment below if there is a company that is missing or incorrect info! I will attempt to add their official websites/social media down the line.

All links are non-affliate, store-front links are used if they are updated more often than the official home page.

Last updated May 25, 2021
 
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Ilkless

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Vsonic should definitely be in the list as well, one of the pioneering Chinese IEM brands that got an international following over a decade ago with the GR07. Pity they haven't been as successful afterwards. Nice interview here by their Spanish retailer.
 

buz

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Vsonic should definitely be in the list as well, one of the pioneering Chinese IEM brands that got an international following over a decade ago with the GR07.
Only IEM even that I could even keep in my ears when laying on my side. Sadly was not very rugged, though. Much prefered it to the (IMHO) totally overhyped Hifimans of the time (the RE2 was down right awful, RE400 soso). Well at least the hypetrain got me off head fi for good.

The first few Xiaomi IEM were unbeatable value at the time.

Brainwavz is missing (tho I think it's largely a rebadging operation). So is Huawei and a bunch of the smaller TWS outfits.

Edit: writing with a blessing 2 in my ears :)
 
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markanini

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Vsonic should definitely be in the list as well, one of the pioneering Chinese IEM brands that got an international following over a decade ago with the GR07
The only remarkable thing is the amount of hype. The audio performance was easily surpassed by $10 IEMs.
 
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sand_bit

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I've added Vsonic. I guess it depends on what a "chinese IEM" brand is, Vsonic was founded in japan in 1980, but the chinese founders later moved most of the operations to ShenZhen in 1999.
 

AdamG

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I've added Vsonic. I guess it depends on what a "chinese IEM" brand is, Vsonic was founded in japan in 1980, but the chinese founders later moved most of the operations to ShenZhen in 1999.
Welcome Aboard @sand_bit. Nice IEM list. Well done Sir!
 

Lunafag

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Update seeaudio, they debuted recently. Available on ali and linsoul.
 

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sand_bit

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BDWoody

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I can't seem to edit the original post, is this a forum restriction? I can remove the reference to this term.

Edit: I guess that means I can't update the original post, maybe I should migrate this to a google doc/sheet?

I think you need a few more posts before you can edit, but I can help with it in the mean time if you need something changed. Looks like we missed one!?
 

JSmith

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I can't seem to edit the original post, is this a forum restriction? I can remove the reference to this term.
Yeah after a certain time members can't edit their post further, although I think a poll can be.
maybe I should migrate this to a google doc/sheet?
Yep, that would work so you can keep it active and updated. Maybe mods can add the link to the GDoc to your OP.



JSmith
 

BDWoody

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Yeah after a certain time members can't edit their post further, although I think a poll can be.

Yep, that would work so you can keep it active and updated. Maybe mods can add the link to the GDoc to your OP.



JSmith

Donors also can edit posts...just sayin'. :cool:
 
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