Budget/Entry IEMs recommendations

Anyone know any good budget IEMs to try out? Or what entry IEMs to try out?

MH755 - 8 bucks! You have to deal with the short cable, but the sound is unbeatable for a beater pair.

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Define budget, please.

This is what I’m using at present : http://munitio.com/product/nines/

Looks to be about $150.00 on Amazon. $170.00 new i believe. Looks like Linus Tech Tips did a review for them ( gasp ).

Pocket Insider reviewed them and they did quite well considering the price :

" Final Thoughts

Overall, we would say that these are a fun pair of earphones, with a V-shaped sound signature that tapers off on the treble/high end of the frequency spectrum. That said, we think that these headphones are better suited for a target demographic that listens more to pop than classical, although the NINES are perfectly up to the task of handling all genres of music pretty well. "

The drivers are inside hollow point bullets that fit in my ears quite well. The cord is lined with Kevlar which means they are going to last. While I’m really dying for a new pair of over ear headphones, these are the best IEMs I have ever owned.

Hope that the info provided helps you in some way. A durable lifestyle product that is both fashionable and sound a hundred times better than say the free IEMs you get with an ipod. It’s a start if nothing else. There is nothing I don’t listen to on them and have just recently filled the entire hard drive of a desk top imac with my music.

The new KZ ZS10 PRO is very good at around $50. I’m waiting for mine to arrive, but so far there’s been alot of praise on headfi and on the net in general.

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I just recently got a pair KZ ZS10 PROs from Amazon, because for $44, I thought why not get a pair, purple of course. I also own the KZ ZS10s, which I didn’t much care for, and only really listened to a few times as they sounded lackluster. All of my listening of these IEMs were through a Enog2 Pro balanced into a 789. I started listening to the Pros with the stock tips, first reaction was meh. After 2 or 3 songs, and a little improvement, I decided to let them burn in for awhile. After about 15 hours of pink noise. I tried them out again. Marked improvement, the dynamic driver was pumping out some decent bass, but still lacking a little sparkle. Switched to Spiral Dot tips. That was the key to take these IEMs over the top. Then I tried the regular 10s and the KZ ZS7 (both had Spiral Dot tips installed. On the 789, I had the gain set on one and about 10:30 on the volume. The regular 10s still lackluster and sounded anemic. The ZS7s a favorite for a few on the Telegram, went the a few of my test songs and only the bass drop on Run The Jewels - Oh Mama gave them a little problem. Tried the 10Pros next and for an under $50 IEM the bass and high end we’re clearer for “Oh Mama” and for every song, every range was clearer for the 10 PRO than the other two IEMs. The change from 5 BA to a DD and 4 BA, was a super move by KZ. They are now in my top ten list for IEMs.

I have tried the Tin T2 and Tin T2 Pro’s and they are both supurb IEM’s. I find that they are very similar to one another with the pro’s being more detailed in the highs that the standard version. I have yet to try the T3’s but i have heard that they are different sounding than the T2 and T2 pros. In someways i find that the T2’s are closer to portable versions of my DT 770’s mostly due to the seal that they achieve with my ears. They also seem to have a tiny bit of that sub-bass that the 770’s are know for, while also being very accurate in the mids and highs. I never find them to over bearing in anyway or that they really need anything more than they already provide.

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The MH750 is also pretty good, but from what I understand the 755 has a more neutral frequency response. I own two MH750’s infact, AG-0500 (White filter paper) and AG-0501 (Black filter paper). The AG-0501 model, is apparently tuned based on Sony’s MH1. The AG-0500 has more emphasis in the lower frequencies, kickdrums have more thump. Whilst the AG-0501 has a tad wider soundstage. Both are very close tonally, those are the only differences that stand out to me. It would be hard for me to suggest the 750, as I believe it is counterfeited more than the 755, and there are two versions like I’ve mentioned. Another IEM that I like is the EX0300, which is the walkman version of the EX300AP. Again, they’re both different.

I think that CCA C10 has no rivals for the price (26 $ 22€)

have the Tin Audio T2 Pro and T3s - the Soundstage on the T2 Pros is wider and Deeper while everything else is better on T3s. Better crontrolled highs, more base and the better cable

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Loving the cases you have for them. Are they on Amazon?

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Yes they are. Search for Fiio HB1

Peli 1020 Micro Case
is the bigger one

Peli Micro Cases come in differnt sizes.
I use the 1020 to transport my ifi xDSD with a few cables

Personally, looking forward to the Alpha & Delta KS3 IEMs. They recently did a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo but should have them on their store very soon.

A few lucky souls have had their hands on them for review, one of the only video reviews I know of is:

Might be worth keeping an eye on if they’re in budget. #ChiFi

I got T2 and T3, but imo T3 is sibilant playing voices :S

(CCA A10 ordered today)

I was doing some hunting a couple of days ago. I wanted to see if I could find a cheap IEM that I’ve never seen before and the QKZ QF2 (MoreBlue DM8) stood out like a sore thumb. It’s so weird looking that I wanted to know if they were also special in the sound department too. Only two reviews, so not that popular. One guy complaining that the volume control became faulty, whilst the other, praised it for the way it presents the sound. I checked that guy’s history on Amazon, and I gathered that he seems to know what he is talking about. So being curious, I bought them.

After two days they arrive. I plugged them in, and I have to say I’m impressed. The most notable characteristic to these is how they produce low frequencies. They’re not the punchiest I’ve heard, but they do go farily low. Vocals are little bit on the shouty side, so a little bit more emphasis on upper midrange. Treble is ok. You’re certainly not going to experience any sibilance with these. They’re not going to be a very resolving set of IEMS either, but for £3, they offer more than their price tag suggests.

Edit: Due to extended sessions listening with this IEM, and gathering more since, I am farily confident with my conclusion with these. So I have rejected some of the key details writing my initial breif review, or overview if you want to call it that. That said, they’re not bad.

Another vote for Tin T2s. I use mine with a Kinboofi balanced cable.

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I personally got the KZ ZS10 (USD 32 when i purchased them) and the Tin T3 (USD 60 - 65). For bass i really would give it to the KZ ZS10 stock, and would give everything else to the Tin T3. For me, the T3’s just has more detail in general.

Yeah, sign me up for an extra vote for the Tin T2. Sub bass is not very present, although nicely “resolved”. Mids and highs have great detail.

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