If you only take audio quality/capability into account, desktop solutions are the best value imo. Everything else is compromises for convenience. This is my general rule of thumb regarding audio quality VS price
desktop
dongles
bt DACs (you have to pay the Qualcomm stuff, at least)
DAPs
tws (especially with ANC)
From there, anyone has to chose depending on his own priorities:
weight
ease of use
with/without cable
battery life
-ā¦
As an example, I answered my different use cases like that:
a desktop high end stack for my desk, where I listen to my headphones and āhigh-endā iems
a qudelix 5k for work, paired with buds so I can hear my colleagues, easily put it on/off my ears, and connect via BT to my laptop AND phone at the same time
a dongle with playback functionality in my bed, plugged to a tablet with a 2m cable (so the tablet lies on the ground and the dongle is next to my pillow, and I can skip tracks)
a tws or utws+iems for the gym and travels
a cheap set with an apple dongle in my man-purse, just in case
As you see, I created myself many use cases and found a solution to each one. And yeah, if I really have to be mobile, I get rid of the wire on the phone and go by with a q6k or a tws.
As many other things in life, there is not only one good answer to everyone. But we are in a time where there are good solutions (and quite good value) in every departments.
At the end of the day, the thing is to know the strengths and weaknesses of each solution, and be able to tell which is best for your personal use case(s).
this is why I use my Q5K and is a must for me during the workday. I will take the trade in SQ vs a DAP for having the convenience of bluetooth. The battery life and fact that Im not using BT is why I keep the DAP.
Desktops are a non-starter for me since its not realistic for me to be sitting in one spot and listening.
Also unrelated but man cable costs have gone up huh
Thinking of buying a U12t, but I only have a 250ā¬ DAC dongle and I know how important source gear can be when it comes to over ears. How badly would I gimp it using that dongle, would I even hear a big difference between my IE600? (dongle model is a&k hc3, itās a clear step above hc2 and m15 in terms of resolution/transparency imo).
U12T doesnāt need much. It was designed to not sound different between sources by avoiding impedance swings like Andromeda 2020.
Not to say that sources does not matter, as I do have a tiny DAP and some dongles that make the U12T sound pedestrian. But that A&K you have unlikely to give you any problem.
Difference from IE600? Definitely. Good difference? Thatās up to the debate.
You can run U12T from anything. You do not need a new source! You can use apple dongle if you want.
U12t had 64aās flat techonology (i just forgot the name and too lazy to google) that makes it imparcial to sources. I ran it from anything I have on hand.
Do you know that the reviewer in question will necessarily understand you are referring to them? Not trying to make you say who it is, cause it would clearly open a massive can of worms, but itās important to know whether the message reaches
I know it will start dramat, but i tend to listen watch reviews before buying iem. If he is blackmailing producers/shops then he isnt being honest to us.
I would like to know who he is because it effects the whole community imo.
Iām almost certain, we have use same platform and my first warning message already hit 4k views. Itās a small community and it will reach to the YT reviewer.
Iāve spoken with IEM brand owner, and the owner knows the reviewer in dispute earned trusts through his dedicated reviewer activities and decided not to disclose the chat logs, for this time.
-Iāll respect the merciful decision made by the brand owner.
-I wasnāt asked by brand owner to send a warning shot, this is solely from my ethical belief that I canāt stand let this blackmail, a crime, taking place.
-The recent development caught my attention thru online forums, and I directly asked the owner, then saw the logs. So I happened to know the recent development from the consequences then reached to the root cause.
It is very sad, that we donāt have unlimited budget to try all products, so that we rely on trustable reviewerās output instead. But now seeing this kind of misdemeanor, now I feel we need a tier2, derivative , the appraiser of reviewers. The fact-checker of reviewers.
Thereās definitely a discussion to be had here since anyone with any hearing capability is able to go on social media and claim to be an IEM reviewer.
As far as I know only two IEM āreviewersā have shown listening capabilities and those are Sharur from YouTube and Amir from ASR. But I know even Riku has a musician background and HBB has a car audio background. Most reviewers I see donāt even have any background in audio/music whatsoever outside of purchasing gear!
A good start would be to at least show a blind test in maximum audio frequency perceptibility to show their measure of hearing loss!
But if Iām honest, even though this hobby is very niche, it doesnāt strike me as something thatās going to happen as you can just look at video games journalists/reviewers and balk at the lack of their credentials through a billion dollar industry no less!
