tl;dr
I’ve tried various earbuds and found that the FAAEAL Iris 2.0 and FIIO FF5 have a similar sound, with the Iris having recessed mids and slightly muffled/veiled vocals. I feel that the FF5 is not worth the higher price and worst fit compared to the Iris. What earbuds would you recommend under $50 that prioritize forward mids and vocals while maintaining good bass quality & quantity.
Long version
After getting into the headphone/iem rabbit hole and found the kind of sound signature that I like. I’ve wanted to try out flatheads. I found them more comfortable for longer period of use without sacrificing the sound.
I’ve tried
- Apple basic earbud (non AirPod)
- Faaeal Iris 2.0
- FiiO FF5
To be honest I found that the FAAEAL Iris 2.0 (donut foam) and FIIO FF5 (balanced foam) sound similar. The distinction being that the Iris mids sound more recessed, vocals sound muffled a bit. The issue is that I don’t think the FF5 are worth 10x the price of the Iris 2.0…
In terms of sound I do enjoy a Harman-ish type of sound with elevated mids. For reference I enjoy HD6XX (adjusted to Oratory’s EQ setting), Simgot EM6L, Myer audio SL41, AirPod Pro.
What are your recommendations for earbuds that puts mids and vocals a little bit more forward but with the bass quality/quantity of the FF5?
Having a mic is plus but not a deal breaker. I’m willig to try flathead under 50$ so I can level up to Rikubud/tgxear later on.