Recommendation All-Rounded IEM with some Vocal Focus Under 500 USD?

[Fenny]

So to start with, my current build is just Dunu DN142 + Jcally JM10 Pro as my dongle DAC + Eletech Baroque Stage for my eartips.

The build is pretty well-done overall, and I love it whenever I can wear the IEM on both sides... however, at times I feel like the dunu 142 isn't giving me the best sound? Like too lean or just not strong enough. This happens while I'm listening to L'arc en ciel musics, which might be caused by bad flac too, but I'm not really sure. I'm trying to listen to a few other singers and it's running fine (Akiko Shikata and Reol as examples)

So well... does anyone have any idea for a good upgrade? Maybe a bit of vocal focus, but with good bass and treble still, while having great clarity and instrument separation... and all that under 500 bucks?

From my research, it seems that Hisenior Mega7 can be a great pick, but I want to know what anyone else thinks as well so I can give them a try if I go to a bigger city.

Edit: Also want to add that my favorite audio equipment beforehand is a Brainwavz HM5, which is absolutely wonderful but one that I can't wear much anymore right now. This is to give people any idea on what frequency I had enjoyed before

 

[delta76]

Good IEM is a good IEM and there is no such vocal focus one. Just pick a good one, Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED comes to mind

Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM Review

Funny the discussion is on eartips now. If I had one complaint about these cheap miracles of modernity, and it's minor, it is that all the earpieces except the foam ones don't fit my ears. I don't think I have particularly strange ears, I'm usually just the "large" tip on most earphones, and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Fenny]

Good IEM is a good IEM and there is no such vocal focus one. Just pick a good one, Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED comes to mind

Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM Review

Funny the discussion is on eartips now. If I had one complaint about these cheap miracles of modernity, and it's minor, it is that all the earpieces except the foam ones don't fit my ears. I don't think I have particularly strange ears, I'm usually just the "large" tip on most earphones, and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Ohhh. This one does sound good... How does this compare to the Pure one? :0

 

[delta76]

Ohhh. This one does sound good... How does this compare to the Pure one? :0

I haven't seen measurements for Pure, so I don't know. But this is basically as good as it gets for IEM. You can even go lower, like Truthear Gate for 1/3 price and sounds almost as good (with the cost of build quality being worse).
Throw in a good USB-C dongle for 20-30$ and you have a great combination for 50$

 

[Fenny]

I haven't seen measurements for Pure, so I don't know. But this is basically as good as it gets for IEM. You can even go lower, like Truthear Gate for 1/3 price and sounds almost as good (with the cost of build quality being worse).
Throw in a good USB-C dongle for 20-30$ and you have a great combination for 50$

Gotcha, thank you!

 

[Sebby]

So to start with, my current build is just Dunu DN142 + Jcally JM10 Pro as my dongle DAC + Eletech Baroque Stage for my eartips.

The build is pretty well-done overall, and I love it whenever I can wear the IEM on both sides... however, at times I feel like the dunu 142 isn't giving me the best sound? Like too lean or just not strong enough. This happens while I'm listening to L'arc en ciel musics, which might be caused by bad flac too, but I'm not really sure. I'm trying to listen to a few other singers and it's running fine (Akiko Shikata and Reol as examples)

So well... does anyone have any idea for a good upgrade? Maybe a bit of vocal focus, but with good bass and treble still, while having great clarity and instrument separation... and all that under 500 bucks?

From my research, it seems that Hisenior Mega7 can be a great pick, but I want to know what anyone else thinks as well so I can give them a try if I go to a bigger city.

Edit: Also want to add that my favorite audio equipment beforehand is a Brainwavz HM5, which is absolutely wonderful but one that I can't wear much anymore right now. This is to give people any idea on what frequency I had enjoyed before

It depends on whether you mean male or female vocals. With male vocals, your Dunu can’t really fill them out because it has a lot of bass/sub bass but not much emphasis in the mid bass (a flaw of many Meta IEMs and even more so Harman ones), so they will always sound thin.
For female vocals you need a bit more upper mids, which brings them more forward.

In my opinion a good allround IEM that gives vocals more bite is the Tanchjim Origin and with small variations pretty much the whole Tanchjim lineup, actually.
I tried the Pure as well and found it terrible in every respect because it sounds very “low res” to me, with annoying peaks and very boring, but that’s just my ears.

Try using this EQ on your Dunu and let me know if it might suit you better

 

[Fenny]

It depends on whether you mean male or female vocals. With male vocals, your Dunu can’t really fill them out because it has a lot of bass/sub bass but not much emphasis in the mid bass (a flaw of many Meta IEMs and even more so Harman ones), so they will always sound thin.
For female vocals you need a bit more upper mids, which brings them more forward.

In my opinion a good allround IEM that gives vocals more bite is the Tanchjim Origin and with small variations pretty much the whole Tanchjim lineup, actually.
I tried the Pure as well and found it terrible in every respect because it sounds very “low res” to me, with annoying peaks and very boring, but that’s just my ears.

Try using this EQ on your Dunu and let me know if it might suit you better

The male vocals are the one that got thin I think, but if this EQ can help to make the female vocals better I'll be happy too

And gotcha on the other opinions part, thank you for the help! Tanchjim Origin does sound good and I will put it in my list to research about as well. Thank you!

(I tried the EQ a little bit as well, and it does seem to make the male vocals sound better, so thank you!)

 

[IsaacOscar]

Good IEM is a good IEM and there is no such vocal focus one. Just pick a good one, Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED comes to mind

Truthear x Crinacle Zero:RED IEM Review

Funny the discussion is on eartips now. If I had one complaint about these cheap miracles of modernity, and it's minor, it is that all the earpieces except the foam ones don't fit my ears. I don't think I have particularly strange ears, I'm usually just the "large" tip on most earphones, and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I have the original/blue version, and they're not very comfortable as they are too large I think, and don't go deep enough into my ear.

I would recommend the Sennheiser IE200 for comfort, but they're not Harman compliant, so there's a lower chance you'll like them (of course I think they're better sounding then my Zero's, but they do make vocals stand out less)

 

[delta76]

I have the original/blue version, and they're not very comfortable as they are too large I think, and don't go deep enough into my ear.

I would recommend the Sennheiser IE200 for comfort, but they're not Harman compliant, so there's a lowet chance you'll like them.

you can change the tips (OEM or 3rd party)
but that's simply the drawback of IEM - there is no one fits all because every one ear canal is different

 

[IsaacOscar]

you can change the tips (OEM or 3rd party)
but that's simply the drawback of IEM - there is no one fits all because every one ear canal is different

Of course (I use Comply foam, but they are probably over priced), I haven't spent the money on getting tips that fit the Zero (as they have a much larger nozzle size), so I was comparing the stock silicone ones.

However it's not just the tips that dictate comfort, e.g. I'm actually using my Sennheiser M2 IEG Comply tips on the IE 200 and they are much more comfortable.

(Wireless might be more comfortable? But then the IEMs are likely larger as well)

Also changing the tips change the sound, e.g. my much more comfortable Comply foam ones increase the bass, which is why I like the bass-weak IE 200.

Unfortunately most frequency graphs just show the stock tips... so it's hard to know what will be good...

 

[Sebby]

The male vocals are the one that got thin I think, but if this EQ can help to make the female vocals better I'll be happy too

And gotcha on the other opinions part, thank you for the help! Tanchjim Origin does sound good and I will put it in my list to research about as well. Thank you!

(I tried the EQ a little bit as well, and it does seem to make the male vocals sound better, so thank you!)

I didn’t know Shikata Akiko and now I’m having fun listening to her with the Meze Alba. Thanks for introducing me to her.

And yes, the EQ I gave you was meant to exaggerate the concept for female vocals. I apologize if I wasn’t clear...
In that case, boosting the mid bass was just a quick and rough way to counterbalance the increase in the upper mids

 

[Sebby]

I have the original/blue version, and they're not very comfortable as they are too large I think, and don't go deep enough into my ear.

I would recommend the Sennheiser IE200 for comfort, but they're not Harman compliant, so there's a lower chance you'll like them (of course I think they're better sounding then my Zero's, but they do make vocals stand out less)

I also prefer the IE200 over the Zero Blue/Red. I also prefer the Zero2 over the Zero Red, but that’s another story...

 

[IsaacOscar]

I also prefer the IE200 over the Zero Blue/Red. I also prefer the Zero2 over the Zero Red, but that’s another story...

But what do you prefer of the Zero2 and IE200 ?

 

[Sebby]

But what do you prefer of the Zero2 and IE200 ?

IE200. I think the Zero 2 is a great base for having a lot of fun experimenting with a parametric EQ.
I’m one of those who usually prefers a bit less emphasis on vocall; not always, but often.
I’ll also tell you that the Dita ProjectM are among my favorite IEMs and that’s why a lot of people give me strange looks

 

[Fenny]

I didn’t know Shikata Akiko and now I’m having fun listening to her with the Meze Alba. Thanks for introducing me to her.

And yes, the EQ I gave you was meant to exaggerate the concept for female vocals. I apologize if I wasn’t clear...
In that case, boosting the mid bass was just a quick and rough way to counterbalance the increase in the upper mids

Gotcha! Thank you for the help, and I'm glad to hear you are enjoying her music as well, she's one of my favorite