That was my guess. If it had been a measurably better chip, it would have been in the marketing materials.
That said, I have been pondering the 5K ( I own the 2020 BTR5 ) and put it on my Christmas list. I still think these are both amazing for what they cost, and that doesn’t matter if we are talking about amp power, Bluetooth features, or DAC quality.
To the original topic, the best IEM under $60 is the Tripowin Mele. They have some slam, fast response, bass like the BL-03, without bloat into the mids, and still has good treble. This set gets a lot of ear time for me, and I own more expensive IEMs.
The only thing under $100 that competes is the Moondrop Aria, they aren’t constructed well ( the cable connectors aren’t mounted correctly, which leads to shorts ), and the stock cable is awful ( microphonic ). I still think under $100 is the Mele, plus it has much better bass, the only thing you give up versus the Aria is some detail retrieval and clarity on high register vocals.
Irrelevant. I have been wanting a second one. This just pushed me over the line. It’s much easier to compare IEMs with several identical amps running using multi-usb output. If they aren’t identical, then it might be problematic. But having two is helpful to me. I may spring for a third since I routinely compare three IEMs.
On macs it is built in to the audio midi setup tool. Just plugin multiple devices and then create a new output with all of them. There are some interesting volume caveats you need to get used to. But it works.
So far I have only seen a couple reviewers speak well of it, and Tin has a reputation for spaghetti throwing to overcome. I seems like they stumbled into something good by accident. I do like that they abandoned the old shell ( it didn’t work for my ears ), and made something new and interesting.
I may wait to see how the people, not reviewers, feel about. I have been about 20% with the early hype train, and the Timeless might be my best experience on that, but I don’t want to push my luck. I am saving for a couple of things now, and don’t want to get derailed on less expensive sets on the way ( which is a serious pitfall in this hobby ).
I’ve been struggling to find something I can put in my ears and simply enjoy for a budget under $300. I either have fit issues (I believe I have smaller than average ears) or the tuning aggravates my tinnitus; if the mids and treble are too forward, tinnitus lets me know. From what I can tell through my search, I tend to like iems that are tuned similar to what @hawaiibadboy likes. We have very similar libraries, so that makes sense.
I bought the T3+ after viewing the @hawaiibadboy review, and because I’ve always been curious what Tin HIFI’s iems were like. I’m very glad I did. For me, and my library, they sound pretty darn good. The bass is solid and doesn’t seem to bleed into the mids. Maybe slightly on occasion, but nothing too serious. Vocals sound great, both male and female. Though in comparison, male vocals may appear very slightly back versus female. Treble is good. I can hear details, yet it’s not offensive by any means. (Keep all of this with a grain of salt. My ears are 46 years old have have been too close to concert speakers, too many times.)
The only possible negative for me is the shell size. It’s slightly larger than what I’m used to, so after 2+hours of using them, they cause slight discomfort. I’ve only had the iems for a few days and believe this will dissipate, because it’s not severe and there are no sharp edges.
On a direct comparison against the Mele, both are pretty close to each other. I give the edge to the T3+ in terms of treble extension and width. This is from memory and not an A/B comparison.
If you have specific questions, I can try to answer them. I’m no reviewer, so keep that in mind.
Thanks for info, it is nice to hear more feedback. It seems like a set that might be on my shortlist.
I am basically in the same price range, my most expensive set so far in the 7Hz Timeless, but I was thinking about Mangrid Teas ( which are a bit over $300 ). Sadly, the updated version of the Mangrid Teas are too shouty, and a fair number of people have been commenting on that for a while now. Those were a top 10 set for HBB.
I’ve been tempted by the 7hz. Maybe someday, but I’m very happy with the T3+. Knowing myself, I’ll probably become bored with them after a month or so and start looking again.
As for the Tea, I can confirm from my experience they sounded shouty. I bought them off Amazon US about three weeks ago. The mids and highs sounded really, really good, but they drown out the low-mids and bass. I tried EQing them and tip-rolled, but it didn’t help. I sent them back. Maybe the Tea’s would work for other people with different libraries/ears, but they were a no-go for me.
My most expensive set I still own are the LZ A7 I bought used. I like them a lot, but something is a wee bit off to my ears. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it’s the timbre?
On another thread, a comparison was done between an OG set of Teas and a new set. They could find little to no difference.
I have no way to tell if the set I had truly had issues or if my ears just don’t care for the tuning of Teas. I hope it’s the former because I really really wanted to like them. Makes me a bit sad.
Thanks, so it sounds like it was ( past tense ) a QC problem, that is good news.
Teas were a bargain compared to the other tops sets at the time they released. The questions around them helped me jump on the 7Hz Timeless type train, which I have been pretty happy with. Maybe this isn’t a bad thing waiting out the bad QC, and holding my breath on a round or two of Teas.
I’ve seen them both on Reddit and H-Fi for $200, in one case saying “make me an offer”, so they seem to be depreciating and can be picked up again in the future!
Don’t get me started on how quickly the Aladdins have depreciated… mystery to me, based on published feedback and reviews.
just kidding I already have one (and love it)
it’s been a month by now