Not sure I can post a link, but depending on where you are located, there is a nice set of 7 used earbuds on eBay (U.S.) at the moment that includes a Yincrow X6 and a Qian39, plus a few other good budget ones. $40 plus shipping.
Or a set of 3 new earbuds: Faaeal Iris 2.0, Yincrow X6, and VE Monk A1 for $35 shipped, but I bet the seller would take offers. 
did not know foam was mandatory, explains why my faael is missing since I threw it somewhere in my room 20 minutes of it assaulting my ears
I’d grab the X6 and qian39 and skip the rest for starting out
buds without foams is like iems with tips lol.
^ this
X6 works = MX500 shells are fine → majority of buds are fine
Qian39 works = unique shell → Rikubuds sole option upgrade
I bought the Iris 2.0 and found em too walled off like how the Hades is, except no thumping bass
I’ll get around to pestering you for a set to buy, I’m still on a no buy zone until my Mext actually reaches UM’s hands
chifi buds dont have sub-bass, unless when they do, they usually have some major sacrifices elsewhere that it loses the pros of a bud over iems sound wise.
Although do note that you shouldnt be expecting iem tier of sub bass from buds to begin with.
iems = closed back headphones
earbuds = open back headphones
yeah I get what you mean, I just don’t know how to describe the sound of the Iris with words besides Hades like treble but no bass lol
I’m gonna experiment with the buds at some point and see which one I like most, I frequent Linkbuds S transparency mode so bass isn’t my goal for the buds since I got Up and Vari lol
Thats an iem though, unless you meant non-S version (donut shaped).
Yeah the IEM on passthrough mode has 0 bass, I use it exclusively so I can hear stuff around me
I honestly didn’t know Earbuds were that open to begin with I could’ve just bought higher tier buds lol
Yeah lol, you picked the wrong one.
yeah that’s part of a long list of “shouldn’t have done that” on my very early start to IEMs and shit lol
I ordered both a Yincrow X6 and a Qian39 before I saw this, but thank you very much for the info. I was trying to track down the Bell-LBBs, so those two were the cheap part of the order.
I have been meaning to spend a bit on some entry level buds. I think I am close my endgame on IEMs, so a budget hobby adjacent to it seemed like the next reasonable step.
We tend to have similar tastes in iems, so i’m pretty sure you’ll hear both of those and then be thinking of queueing up with Riku soon after.
Yo thanks man. I think I will order the X6s to make sure the mx500 shell fits with my ears and then I’ll go to you.
Regarding the earbuds : open back headphones comparison, doesn this also mean that earbuds can take EQ like open backs? Like is it possible to throw on a crazy bass shelf without running into distortion from the driver? I ask cuz I listen to a lot of EDM.
I am with you. I am trying to figure out what I think of different tunings on earbuds, and what works for me. I am getting to hear a couple of the earlier gen Riku buds ( folks on HFG are amazing ), and am guessing I will pick up at least one Gen 3 from Riku.
I seem to do fine on fit with the mx500 shells, and have a Qian39 coming, and a NiceHCK EB2S Pro ( metal stick style ). All of my office listening this week on the KBear Stellar ( MX500 shell ), and for the price those are insane ( I bought a 5 pack for $20 ), and those will likely become my grandkid / office give away buds.
I spent about $100 on Ali and got a Qian39, LBBS, X6, RW-9, and the EMX500.
You won’t be disappointed 
If they do you can go to my gen 1 lineup. If not, gen 3 has the best comfort/fit shell out there.
I do not PEQ my own Rikubuds, but I certainly did when I was running the LBBS and it could take up to around +15db sub-bass boost without problems.
Also good lord the cheap Japanese stuff is horrible. I got a chance to hear the JVC Gumy, and the Sony MDRE9LP/BLU, both were bad. They had bad tone and timber with not bass. It was mind blowing to put in the Faaeal Iris 2.0.
When will I receive a message from you?
