Repost lol
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I would argue that there may not be an advantage to using intimate headphones when iems exist. After listenjng to my 95x this last time, I was under the impression they were harsh sounding with vocalsā¦and Iāve NEVER felt that before everā¦smh #2020
Iām going to hop in here to say that I have been using my IEMs less and less since I stopped going to classes when the quarantine started. IEMs are the best option for portability and travel but when you have literally spent a grand total of about a single weak outside your house (let alone going anywhere) over the past 5 months (Me) they lose the convenience. This is made worse by the fact that my right ear is a little fucking bitch that refuses to cooperate with almost any tips (some foams are OK and those Xelastec tips are promising so far) so I have ended up using my IEMs very sparingly recently.
Though I will admit that IEMs can be better than similarly priced headphones though. I love my Tin P1 so much that it beats out everything other than my beloved TR-X00 PH (this my change once Iāve had enough time with the Grado Hemp LTD) but that damn right ear of mine.
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That sucks. I think most of us have our own fit issues. Bottom line is that there are advantages to IEMs that headphones canāt touch. The same goes for Headphones vs IEMs. Luckily, we donāt have to choose and we can enjoy both. I just had no idea that IEMs could compete what so ever with headphones. The TR-X00 are fantastic headphones. Enjoy them!
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Agreed, Iām comfortably in āmid-fiā for my speaker setup, my headphones, and my iems. I have little left to climb for gear I want, its just the random odds and ends. Also tnx for the ybf writeup Iāll pass since it seems like its near my OH10.
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Those would cost me more than the iems themselves- after tips cable and iems Iād be breaching into the legacy 3/starfield/NA2/nm2 price category which imo are probably all much better.
By the way, if any of you guys have a problem in inserting your IEM to your ear and get a sealed fit, you must see and try the method shown in link shared video below, skip to min 6:55. works really fine with me to get perfect fit without hurting your ear
dont try to force and push/twist your IEM tips into your ear as it might hurt your year or worse. I learn it in the very hard way for this.
hope this help
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Thank you! Fit & seal is incredibly important for me. There isnāt enough information out there how to insert IEMs properly and attain a great seal. This is great!
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Personally I havenāt found my IEMās to be able to compete with my headphones. This could be due to my preference of large soundstage or the big price discrepancy of my headphones and iems. Also I am mostly at my desk and for obvious reasons, do not need portable much at the moment.
Headphones: Edition X v2, Elex
IEMS: iBasso IT03, Ikko OH10, Starfield, Shuoer Tape, ZS10 Pro, Blon 03
DAC/AMP: Liquid Platinum, El Amp v1, SMSL SU-8
Considering upgrading to it04, oriolus forsteni or something like that but I have a hard time believing either will be able to compete with the headphones I have.
Like you said, youāre comparing $700 headphones to $200 or less IEMs. I find the sound quality of my Starfields as good or better than my 58X, but theyāre in the same price bracket.
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Iām listening to my Mangird Tea right now. The bass amount, overall detail and yes, sound stage are much more impressive than my headphones. If you want a list of some of my headphones and picsā¦
Bass especially. The bass response on my IEMs is incredible. Headphones canāt touch them, especially open backs. Closed back headphones get closer but canāt compete with the texture and detail of IEM bass. Itās gotta have to do with how close the IEM is putting that music into your brain. Headphones have a chamber around your ear that needs to be designed and effects the sound. Headphones also have a lot more air they need to deal with than IEMs.
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very interesting especially because you mention sound stage. Also the Tea is not very expensive!
@Bmn1251 how does your experience with the Tea compare? Especially the bass with something like the edition xx?
Not all IEMs have this kind of sound stage. I have found that single driver IEMs have a much smaller soundstage than hybrids. The Tea has a very wide sound stage but it feels/sounds natural. Everything is placed where you would expect it to be. The Fiio FH7 has a very wide sound stage as well but it sounds more detailed and instrument placement feels awkward in comparison, but instrument separation is very impressive.
The IEM addiction is still new to me so I still have a lot to learn but Iām fascinated by what Iām hearing vs headphones. Headphones win hands down on comfort and ease of use. Itās been difficult for me to get used to wearing, inserting and getting a good seal with IEMs. It seems I go through a journey with each IEM to find the perfect tips that fit me properly and sound best for that IEM. Iāve amassed quite a collection of tips, and yeahā¦ proper tips and seal are essential to hearing what an IEM truly has to offer.
Like you said, in the end, it all boils down to preference. I used to think IEMs were horrible. I used to get ear infections and couldnāt get them to stay in my ears. The Starfield changed all of that for me. Now Iām addicted to them. I canāt wait to hear more IEMs and see what they have to offer. Iām not getting rid of my headphones though. I do enjoy both for different reasons.
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@sa11297 @PapaEmeritus so for soundstage the teas are great and on par with the larger soundstage headphones Iāve heard. K712,Sundaras,edition xxā¦but with an iem I feel you are limited on how its presented since its more of an intimate experience since its literally in your ear. Open back headphones with good stage just seems to have a larger playing field. Sounds get thrown out in all directions better. The mangrid teas do a pretty good job too. Its just more intimate. The edition xx stage is more unique because i can hear things more vertical. The teas donāt do that as much. But its hard to compare iems and headphones though lol. But something like the 6xx, i would rather get my stage from the teas lol
Bass impact on the xx is way more than the teas. Detail wise its better on the teas and maybe on par with the sundaras and dt880s. But i guess thats just preferences, because bass detail doesnāt always mean itās gonna slam and thump. The xx has way more slam. And the cups can vibrate. The teas are no sloutch though, and the oh10s too. But to rank what ive owned to combine iems and hps is this, from best to least enjoyable.
Edition xx
Teas
Sundaras
Oh10
Dt 880(600) ohm
Starfields
K712
6xx
M40x
The 3 in the middle are probably the same enjoyment lol
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As another person with experience with the Andromeda 2020 and previous iterations of the Andromeda, they are comfortable to me. I have a friend who owned the Andromeda S for a long time and never complained about fit issues.
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I would consider myself to have quite a bit of experience high end IEMs and high end headphones and oddly enough, I will choose my IEMs even at my desk over headphones majority of the time. IEMs sound more engaging to me and they make music feel more āaliveā. If I desire a larger sound stage/want to hear my surroundings, I put on headphones.
I would recommend trying a higher end set of IEMs and see how you like them in comparison to headphones, you might be surprised.
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Yeah i definitely intend to but am not sure which pair to get 
āIEMs are ruining my headphone experienceā
Currently has 6 IEMs that I use
Realizes that I only have 3 headphones atm (one is on its way to be delivered)
Agreed right there with that statement.
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It is a big jump up, but a really safe IEM to get that is widely loved by the community is the Campfire Audio Andromeda. Bit pricy, but totally worth it. One of the few pieces of audio including many high end 1k+ IEM/headphones that I have shown to ānormalā people where they are impressed by the sound.
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Thanks @PapaEmeritus for starting the thread. Itās been a fun read, and Iām quite amazed how the introduction of IEMs transformed some of you audio-wise 
As for the title: āIEMs are ruining my headphone experienceā Absolutely fits the bill. However upon first read, Iāve re-phrased this thread (for myself) to āMy Ultimate Speaker Endgame Is to get them to image and recreate textures as well as IEMsā.
Every day I go home after work and listen to the Speaker Setup Consisting of: ifi PowerStation, Auralic Aries Femto, Chord Hugo2, Auralic Taurus MkII, Mark Levinson No.27, Canton Reference JubileĆ©, and get thunder-struck by the sound every time. Yesterday, for example, I was listening to Elton Johnās āBitter Fingersā from the Captain Fantastic and Brown Dirt Cowboy Album, and the snare drums damn near made me dance. But many times, the stage is just there in front of you and in between the speakers, unlike IEMs where youāre encapsulated in the performance. I have to experiment more with speaker positioning.
On the way to work the next morning, I slip the M11Pro SS in my pocket and connect it to the Thieaudio L9 single-ended(!yes, not even balanced), and partially play the same songs I listened to the day before on the speakers. And the fascination kicks in. Again. Some drum textures slamming away in the middle-left of the stage wrapped around my head and the hi-hats chiming away right frickinā next to my right ear make me damn near sing along and bob my head along vigorously. Every morning I think āwow, wouldnāt it be nice If the damn 10000$ speakers would image and stage like these do.ā And the next thought is āwow, this combo is kicking all kinds of ass no matter what it is compared to!ā
My mid-fi combination of the M11Pro SS and the L9 makes what I am aiming for in the speaker setup. I find that crazy! Using the L9s on SpinFit CP100ās. To my ears a better sound than the Dekoni Foam Tips.
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