Have you tried the CA Vega? They’re probably only on the used market and would be a good price imo
Nope. The Andromeda are the only CA I’ve heard yet. This is why I was posting in this thread about the value/cost thing. Seeing those pictures of the insides of the CA IEMs made me consider if the price is inflated for what you’re getting.
czalarenta put everything into proper perspective though with his post concerning value, and I completely agree. If someone is willing to pay a certain price for a product, then it’s worth its value to that person. It’s all relative.
For me, I haven’t found the CA that I’m willing to spend over $1,000+ bucks for yet. I’m excited for any IEM that makes me want to drop that amount of cash. I have headphones worth much more than that as well, so I can afford it. ChiFi brands have just been making it more and more difficult to see the value in other brands. It’s just easier to get burned. I have been burned by Thieaudio with my custom Legacy 3 set. I received one of the sets with heavily rolled off treble.
Did you try contacting them about the sound issues?
Hopefully you find it someday! If you can, it is definitely worth going to an audio show. You can also audition the MEST on Musictech’s website since that could be up your alley as well if you can’t wait for an audio show.
Yeah it’ll be a big force in the industry once they have good QC and gain more traction among bigger names around the internet.
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Nah. They just don’t get used.
That would be awesome. I’ve heard from people I trust the MEST could be the current endgame for most of us, if we ever got to hear them.
eh i think i’ll probably just go with final audio because it seems like a respected brand, has some more positive reviews, and the E3000 though attatched cable IS cheaper than the fiio when i dunno what to expect from chifi, BA drivers, or any of that stuff (plus recommended by steve guttenberg)
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Here is my take on what is the optimal and ends up being the best and cheapest for you if you are going to be into this hobby for a long time:
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Find out what signature you prefer and dislike, you can do this by just simply getting stuff in the 0-50 usd range that all have different signatures. For example, getting the neutral/bright-neutral Tin Hifi T2, Warm L-shaped Blon 03, V-shaped KZ iem.
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After finding out or at least narrowing down what you prefer/dislike, begin trying out the same signatures but with different driver types. Price range around 50-150 usd, since some drivers in the budget range have a lot cons more than others (like hybrid setups vs single DD) and that budget range doesnt have exotic drivers like planars and magnetostats.
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Once you find out what driver type you like/dislike you can begin move up the price ladder. This way you be more likely to buy something you like when you already know what you want.
This is what I have come up with when I look back at my own journey.
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so buy like 5 different IEMs (blon, tin, kz, fiio, etc… whatever will have a different sound) and then… find out what to do with the rest of the IEMs after i find out i like one specific sound and then take in another one in a higher lane a la tin, shuoer, shozy, final, 1more, etc
Yes, that would end up being better in the long run. Instead of buying something expensive right from the start and you might not even like that signature/driver config.
So earlier today while I was bored, I took out all of my IEMs today in order to lend it to my dad for a bit since he is an avid listener to music as well as a former Disc Jockey. I basically lend him my BL03s and Starfields, as he gave it a listen I can see the results in regards on how many minutes he wore the IEMs I lent him to give it a try. Turns out he’s wearing the Starfields much longer than the BL03s and he said to me that he love the sounds of the Starfields even more than the BL03s.
Afterwards though, he is like “How the hell do you even have many so IEMs or headphones?” inside of me I am like, I blame you for giving the start up of me buying the M40xs back then, it’s your fault dad. xD
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What cheap stuff would have different enough sound signatures to make it good
Well Its been a while since I got any budget iems, but here are some recs:
Blon 03/Final Audio E3000 = L-shaped
Tin Hifi T2/Final Audio E1000 = Bright-neutral/neutral
LZ A6 mini = reverse L-shaped
KZ ZSX (Not sure if the newer ones fit here) = V-shaped
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A LITTLE too expensive for the under 50 price
It is at around 60 usd without sale, but on aliexpress sales it is at 50.
It is actually a really good iem at that price. Especially for that signature.
If anyone wonders what I would rec from the 100-300 usd range it would be:
Fiio FH3: L-shaped
Tanchjim Oxygen: bright-neutral
LZ A6: V-shaped to reverse L-shaped depending on filter
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Under 50 goes to the Blon BL-03.
Under 60 goes to the Fiio FD1.
oh thats the problem… i dont use aliexpress… my parents credit card did not like the site
so availabe from any other places will be nice for this situation… and on other places it was 75 dollars…
so definitely the final or blon, the tin T2, and the KZ ZS10 pro are very likely… i just need different sound signatures… not even a need for different drivers
If you cant use aliexpress then you will be limited a lot.
There are other places like, penon audio/shenzhen audio/hifigo/linsoul. They have their own stores apart from their stores on aliexpress.
I have not used shenzhen audio personally but it shouldnt be a problem, however I advice against linsoul due to their customer service.
Guys what do you guys think about the QKZ IEMs? I am planning to get 2 of those in order to give it to my little brothers for I have noticed that they are not using good earphones and I even saw them using shitty earphones that are broken. So yeah, I’ll keep it a secret from them and I know it’s not much but at least that’s I can do to give them something.
havent tried them, but honestly I think that all these 30 usd iems are merely sidegrades to stuff thats been out longer (like KZ and CCA). Unless something is talked about for a long time after release like the blon 03.
I mean I wish I could give the 2 some BL03s right now but I am just short right now and they are doing online classes at the moment. Well I guess I will just have to see it for myself then and see how it goes for the 2.