Can you recommend me my first budget IEM?

Are you kidding me? Thank you mr Anonymous this was a very nice little write up.

I was worried it might be too bassy but this sounds well balanced. Good control in bass is so important!

Overall seems pretty good!

For sure goes in my list.

Only thing I am worried is how is the detail/ clarity of the sound in this price range of IEMs?? Does anyone have any headphone experience to compare to?

I have extensive experience with headphones of all price ranges as well. If you check my profile I have a current gear list, but I have also tried and owned many, many more because Iā€™m kind of a gearhound. If you can name some specific headphones or specific questions Iā€™ll do my best to answer.

And youā€™re welcome for the help. I like helping when and where I can.

Honestly you canā€™t go wrong with a moondrop iem usually they come with a great package too. FIIO iems also come with a lot of tips too.

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So I have only experienced the Sundara and the beyerdynamic DT 770. Sundaras are the benchmark of clarity for my ears currently.

The Beyers I would say are decent for the price but jumping to Sundara there is a big difference in clarity. So with decent IEMs in the 150$ mark what kind of tier can I expect in clarity.

For example: do they punch above something like the 120$ Beyers ?

P.S Thats a ton of gear man! :exploding_head: :exploding_head:

Yes I have a couple of moondrops in my list as well :slight_smile:

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If you can get it on sale:

If not:

Hook-X is basicly what youā€™re describing. Wu will be more resolving and have better dynamics, but also more treble.

Olina SE if you donā€™t want a planar, but you mentioned resolution.

You can check my review on all three if you wish for more info. Have a cookie while at that. :cookie:

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I find the Provence to have good clarity. I have owned both the Sundaras and the Dt770s in the past. For the Provence in specific, I think it has clarity beyond the Dt770s which, to my ear, arenā€™t a particularly clear headphone especially through their recessed mid range. The Sundaras are a more expensive, class leading type of over ear clarity that I donā€™t think the Provence can quite compete with. I think youā€™re going to have trouble finding Sundara level clarity with a dark or conservative treble tuning.

Much of percieved clarity and detail in any transducer comes from upper mids and treble so when treble rolls off it often seems less clear than an emphasized and extended treble section. That said, an IEM with a well executed roll off, as the Provence seems to be thus far, will still have the requisite detail and note definition, itā€™s just not as up front and in your face. I hope that makes sense.

For IEMs in general, you can get really spectacular performance in the lower cost price range(s) these days. Spending ā‚¬150 on an IEM should give you access to plenty of options that are good technical performers that are also tuned well. Finding one thatā€™s a combo of your preferred tuning and the clarity and technical ability you want is going to be harder. Most of the IEMs I love in this range have treble that I believe you would find to bright, my favorite being the Letshuoer S12 which has treble that can be borderline for me and Iā€™m not treble sensitive.

I just happen to have acquired the Provence a little over a week ago and it seemed to match your description of what youā€™re looking for so I brought it up. When I bought the Provence I was looking for a lower cost all-arounder that I could listen to for hours that has really good fundamentals eg non-fatiguing tuning that translates well to many genres and solid separation, imaging, detail retrieval, etc. So far the Provence has acquitted itself quite well.

Edit: P.S. I told you Iā€™m a gearhound lol!

Edit 2: @nymz rec for the Olina SE might work, but I think itā€™s treble might be borderline for you as well. It certainly isnā€™t the darkish treble we have been discussing. If you can get the Hook-X for ā‚¬150 it would be good too I think, but I know I paid significantly more for mine and I didnā€™t know it got down to ā‚¬150 even on sale. I havenā€™t heard the Wu.

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This man i right about the treble, but he said harmanish :frowning:

Im confused

Thanks for the cookie :blush: I will be sure to read your review! I am very interested in what a tiny planar sounds like actually.

Lol sorry for the confusion. Basically I was looking for a darkish sound. When I said about Harman itā€™s just another sound I might be interested if there are good options. Ideally speaking dark when compared to Harman which sounds slightly bright to my ears.

Hook-X. Against all I believe FH3.

Gotcha this does make a lot of sense actually. I do believe I have a good idea now in terms of what to expect on clarity :slightly_smiling_face:.

This is basically me right now! + I actually want to see what all the hype is with IEMs (again this is the first time I try IEMs).

Also I havenā€™t really tried a wamer/darker sound signature and I feel itā€™s something that I would really like.

On the other hand and completely off-topic I also do love a nice bright sound. I just feel like it is not ideal for every listening scenario plus it kind of tires me after a while. Also some sounds just sound very harsh to me on a bright headphone. But on msuic where they donā€™t sound harsh I love how engaging the sound is full of little details coming from everywhere.

I am slowly but surely turning into an audio junkie and I want to build a collection of all sorts of differently tuned devices :smiling_face_with_tear: :weary:

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So your no1 rec for the darker sound is FH3? Hook-X is probably out of the price but will check if it drops to around 150 from time to time.

The FH3 seems like it might have a couple of peaks, it sounds smooth? I will look for your review if you have one

No, Iā€™m just giving you options.

Hook-X fits the bill. Where are you based?

Im in Europe!

And are you in a rush to buy something?

Well no not right now. I should have the final e3000 tomorrow so that should keep me busy for a little while.

Let us know how it goes :call_me_hand:

Sure will but you have me intrigued about the hook-x. Do you know if actually drops in price?

11.11 is coming :person_shrugging:

I donā€™t know yet

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Wait 11.11 is a deals day? First I hear about that lol :exploding_head: . Well hopefully something good will come up.

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