If vocals are important, I would also stay away from the FH3. That set has its strengths, but tonally it is a little odd.
Thanks folks, I really appreciate you all coming through with a great discussion!
Still in the running are Starfields, ER2SE, and the new Olina. I’ve been following the Olina thread with a good deal of interest for almost a week, and as people get their in and provide initial observations, they seem to be right on the spot.
Narrowing the field to three competitors really helps. Now I can focus on reviews of three specific products.
While I’ve got you here, is Zen pretty much it for great desktop options driving these little buggers? Looking for the sort of noise floor that makes IEMatch completely unnecessary. I’ve heard a lot of good noises about the Zen dac, and the wife will appreciate the simplicity of a dac/amp, but I would like to know if there are other good options.
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Just an FYI. I haven’t heard either but from everything I read the Arias and Starfields are more of less the same so the Arias would be the cheaper option
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I personally never had any problems with my zen DAC and iems but others had noise floor problems
An alternative could be something like the qudelik 5k you can use it as an DAC amp for the PC and as a Bluetooth receiver for on the go and it sounds imo great 
and as a party trick is has a inbuilt parametric eq so should the iem has to much bass as an example she could lower that 
The Starfield runs fine straight from a phone.
For context I’d tried the FH3, ER2SE, and Tanchjim Oxygen (extremely similar to Olina), and currently own the Starfields and Tanchjim Hana 2021. For under $200 I would definitely get the Olina.
Based on the Oxygen and Hana (which are very very similar to the Olina, like a 5% difference) what you’re getting in terms of resolution, timbre, and imaging is going to be better than the Starfields/ER2SE/FH3. The Oxygen/Hana also has the best tuning imo with rich mids, good bass impact, and great treble extension, easily competing with $300-500 IEMs.
I’d avoid the FH3 due to its treble and overall technical abilities–sounds muddy. Starfields is a less resolving/technical version of the Oxygen/Hana/Olina, better than the FH3 but with more laid back/recessed mids and treble compared to the Oxygen/Hana/Olina. ER2SE is a great pair, but may be too neutral and bland. I believe @nymz did a comparison of the Olina vs OG Oxygen: 🔶 Tripowin X HBB Olina - #91 by nymz
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7hz Timeless for slightly more than 200$. Some say the S12 is even better for 150$, but the latter one I haven’t heared… supposedly brighter and less bass than the timeless (which itself is already rather bright), but overall similar. Some say the S12 is more detailed, some say it’s less.
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Yeah, but as a couple of others I think have said further up - what kind of music library flavours are we talking about here?
Lately, its been modern instrumental music; Lindsey Sterling, Trans Siberian Orchestra, that sort of thing, with a fair mix of modern mixed acapella like Pentatonix. Before that she was enjoying deeper female vocals in popular music - Pink, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga. For nostalgia she’ll plug in Shanaia Twain or Tori Amos.
She is also going to want decent gaming sounds. I don’t think positional accuracy is a top priority, she doesn’t play a lot of shooters, but RPG immersion with orchestral sounds from Final Fantasy or Elder Scrolls types of games is pretty high on the list.
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When it comes to what you just described, I personally enjoy using the HermonicDyne Zeus for all my RPG games, and for all my Orchestral music. So with that said if you need to find a IEM that image like headphones I would check out the Blessing 2, only downside is that it would be at the top of your budget at around 200.
What currency? Blessing 2 is £235.57 GBP, €281.35 EUR, or $319.99 USD. For that price you could get three Olina IEMs.
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Blessing 2 isn’t V shaped and lacks treble extension. So much so that I sold it, since I couldn’t enjoy it without eq. Also 100$ above budget.
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Olina and S12 should be considered for sure.
Olina is a great versatile set.
S12 is a high performance for price and a good V shape
Where are you finding Blessing 2’s at $200? That’s the deal of the year so far, if true.
The Blessing 2 is $320 new at Amazon and headphones.com.
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Hm for this kind of music bass isn’t the most important thing and mid to treble should shine more
So for cheap you could try moondrop aria or an HBB Olina
You could also try a S12 but that’s planar so it should need some decent amplification ergo Apple dongle might not be the best fit for it
I watched this the other day, it really has me thinking about getting either the T3 or the Mele. I recently got the Timeless, and I really like them, especially for the way they fit my ears
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I went from the timeless to the Mele and the Mele was a lackluster in comparison until I did the “blon” mod. The T3+ looks really interesting and I would have probably given that a listen if I didn’t have the Olina now (which is addicting)
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We have settled on the Tripowin Olina!
Just pulled the trigger on that, and an IEMatch to be sure the Fiio E10K that will be feeding them doesn’t make too much extraneous noise. Future upgraded Dac/Amp is a solid idea for her birthday, with nice pretty cables for mother’s day!
I am hoping she really, really enjoys these! Thanks for all the help folks, I do appreciate it.
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Hope she loves it, thanks for the trust 
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Great choice on the Olina. I was about to chime in that the S12 would be a poor choice for someone who want a hands off setup like you’ve described your wife wanting. S12 is great for someone who wants to fiddle around.
It also sounds like she might be a candidate for something like a pair of KSC75s with Yaxi pads on a headband. Those are great for avoiding helmet head.
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