Looking for Warm Neutral IEMs ($200-$300)

IEMs / Other In-Ear Monitors (IEM)
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Hey there,

I’ve been using a pair of KBears 2 and Sony MDRXB50AP earbuds for a while now, and my compulsive buying brain wants something better. I daily drive a pair of HD 6XXs that I absolutely adore (yeah I know very basic tastes). I enjoy that Warm Neutral sound signature and am looking for something similar in a pair of IEMs. Comfy, non-fatiguing and overall great for most music.

While I would prefer to spend around $200, there is a certain pair that I am super curious about and may be willing to drop the $329 that they are, the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk.

My music taste is more on the energetic side. I mainly listen to Heavy Metal, bands like The Devil Wears Prada, Phinehas and Fit For a King. I enjoy listening to video game music, stuff like Payday 2 OST, Pokemon and especially the Risk of Rain 2 OST. Also a big fan of piano by itself. (I listen to weeb trash every now and then as well but you can ignore that).

In terms of fit and usage, I am more of I guess you could say a compact guy, so I normally use the small/medium sized earbud tips. I would them mostly at home and walking around town. But if they can also be used at the gym that’d be a nice bonus too (gotta flex both physically and musically).

The IEMs I’ve been looking at are:

Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk: $329 The most expensive pair I’m curious about, heard a lot of good things about them, how they sound very similar to an actual pair of headphones, and a more warm but still neutral sound. Not as treble focused like the regular Blessing 2s.

FiiO FH5: $260? FiiO seems to make great stuff with great packaging and extra useful things along with the IEMs (weird complement but I am a sucker for an awesome unboxing experience). I’ve heard these have great bass and just an overall good neutral-ish pair of IEMs. Only issue with these is I can’t seem to find them brand new. So even if I wanted to buy them, I can’t find them and I don’t want to buy these used.

Raptgo Hook-X: $240 I see a lot of people recommend these. Planar IEMs seem to be in a craze currently and these definitely look interesting. My only concern is that they have an open-back design. I’m not against the idea but I don’t know just how much noise leakage a pair of open back IEMs would do. And while having a pair where talking won’t be weird is a nice plus, if they leak a easily noticeable amount I would rather not go for them.

FiiO FD5: $300 (Currently on sale for $220) A semi open back IEM that looks really cool. Only issue is these seem to be more V shaped so I’m not so sure about them. Plus the same concern as with the Raptgo Hook-X.

Moondrop Kato: $200 I dunno what to say about these. Seem to be good but just cheaper than the Blessing 2 Dusk.

Etymotic are overall well received, but I don’t like the fact that they go balls deep into your ear holes. The 7hz Timeless is another beloved planar, but with just how big they are, they don’t seem to be that comfy. For all I know I could just save a ton of money and buy the $80 Moondrop Arias, but if there is a HD 6XX with better bass in IEM form, I’ll gladly drop $200-300 for it. Also a small side question, is the Harman Neutral signature similar to the Warm Neutral signature?

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Would you be willing to EQ them or do they have to sound like you want straight out of box?

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I would prefer to use them straight out of the box. I don’t know basically anything about EQ.

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Olina SE is warm but also has good treble extension and detail at only $100. Good fit for your library, and is the best value IEM currently; tuning is better than the Dusk imo (at least the modded Olina is which is what the SE is basically). Also just better than Kato and cheaper.

More in-depth: JAY's IEM Ranking List - Google Sheets

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What mod are you refering to if I may ask? The double stock filter mod?

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Warm neutral? Up to $300 to spend?

Penon Serial, no competition in my mind until you start going over $600, even then not always.

I’ll come back later to write more, lunch with the fam atm.

EDIT:

  • Second hand only a little above $200 usually.
  • Its presentation of bass is one of my very favorites out of dozens of IEMs, including ones priced over $500, quite easily in some cases. The biocellulose bass driver digs deep with good texture, and can give a subwoofer feel when called for but never separates itself from the rest of the music like some signatures.
  • It tilts warm but not in a way that overinflates lower mids at all.
  • Vocals are very natural, have no nasal honk, are smooth, work well for men and women, and are not too forward or too recessed, placement seems perfect.
  • I have no complaints about imaging/stage, these things are reproduced to a realistic degree.
  • Timbre is fantastic. Coherence is fantastic, very much sounds like a single DD.
  • The bass is never one-note or vague and thumpy. Attack and decay seem right on to me.
  • A very versatile tuning, for me that’s a necessity, and I have no complaints regardless of genre.
  • Comfortable shell, comes with a great stock cable
  • Pairs best of all with ePro Horn tips, but also well with wide bore tips like the Whizzer SS20 or BGVP W01. A07 by BGVP also.
  • Drives easily, but on the other hand I’ve never been able to “over” amp it, it enjoys power too and seems to add some spacey bacey that way.
  • The tuning is very natural, but engaging not analytical.
  • If you’re looking for “neutral with bass boost”, IMO these do that best.

I actually have a chance to hear Thieaudio Clairvoyants again soon. At a price were keeping either would not matter financially. They graph like siblings. I am actually completely unsure which I’ll pick. The tribrid pair should be the no-brainer, but the Serials are so maturely tuned, transparent yet characterful, warm yet neutral, that I’ll have to wait to hear them both, and I expect the choice won’t be easy even then.

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Ya, double filter :+1:

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I checked out the non SE version of the Olina, and consistently in the reviews they say it’s a tad weak in bass and more bright neutral. Is there any big difference between the two? Cause it being bright neutral makes me think it’s not for me.

Edit: So from what I was able to find the SE version is a warmer Olina. I’ll definitely look more into them, one thing I see brought up is that the eartips are their poorest feature, are there any ear bud bits you’d recommend, especially for a warm neutral experience? I normally use small/medium bud bits.

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Value wise (tech) you’re not going to beat the Olina SE, and yes just like you said it’s a warmer stock Olina with less treble. If you think the SE is still not warm enough you can put on another set of filters that it comes with. Tip wise I don’t have any specific, but anything that’s comfortable with a small opening hole will work.

If you want the most bass and warmth then the Serial is the way to go for $200 more. Although tech wise both are similar, so you’re just paying for more/better bass texture on the Serial at that point, but that’s up to you if it’s worth it or not :+1:

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Thanks for the info and help, I really appreciate it. It’s funny how I thought I was able to bring it down to a few IEMs to choose from, only to hear recommendations of brands and names I’ve never heard of. Honestly the more I look into IEMs the more my “must spend money” brain calms down. IEMs costing $300 is just not worth it, at least for the time being for me. Especially considering my headphones are only $240.

Most likely going to get the Olina SE then. But just in case I want to get another pair to try out and compare the two, is there any other warm neutral IEMs that are good?

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The Hana 2021 at $180; with filters (comes with) it’ll be much warmer. It’s the bassier version of the Olina without sacrificing too much tech. For hiphop/EDM/pop I prefer the Hana+filters over the Olina+filters/SE due to its better note-weight, and bass texture/impact, also tamer in the highs as well. For rock/metal the SE will be better due to its bigger staging and separation. Really depends what you’re looking for. Other than that I can’t think of any other sets off the top of my head.

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For $100 the Legacy 2 certainly isn’t bad, but def better technicalities and timbre with the Olina and therefore SE.

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Looks like the Olina SE is the winner lol. I’m still kinda tempted to try out the Penon Serial, but I think I’ll wait till I start making more money to have higher end gear. Thanks for the help!

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On the cheaper “just want to try out the sound” side of things, the CCA CRA is the best warm-neutral set you can get below Olina, in my opinion, at $15 but it won’t have nearly the chops in technicalities you want. Olina is the best bang-for-your-buck to just get in and get out

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Blessing 2 Dusk is not warm, at least not in HD6XX sense, it’s boosted sub bass with leaner mids and nowhere the same as the HD6XX which has mid-upper bass to lower midrange boost and it’s def. more treble intense than 6XX, at least the pair I’ve heard.
Kato’s supposed to be close in tuning to Starfield which is def. not piercing in the treble, haven’t heard the Kato myself but if it’s an improved Starfield it should be a safe choice.
Personally I went with the IE 300 + Astell AK HC2 today, though I do have to buy a 3rd party balanced cable. The PEE51 was nice but couldn’t keep up with the HC2.

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For warm neutral I would recommend Olina SE (not heard it but I had Hana21), Tin P1 Plus (my personal favorite) or Thieaudio Legacy 5.

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Just my 2 cents on this one - I couldn’t stand it. Metallic with horrible peaks, too harsh to listen to. I have no issue with budget sets but feel this has more spice or something than a typical neutral-with-bass-boost. To me it was the same KZ as ever, not a deviation from their pattern.

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That’s certainly fair

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CRA is nothing but neutral.
At that price I only know of the Final Audio E500/1000 that is warm neutral.

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what bout the Etymotic ER4XR?