Teas are my favourite IEM. Donāt let the price fool you.
Iām saving up for Mest Mk2, Iām selling my collection, Iām keeping Teas out of them all, lol.
If you wanna keep the Harman-Target FR and Single DD, then the natural progression is Hana 2021 then Oxygen. If HBB claims that Mele is very similar or even better than Hana 2021, you might get an upgrade for 50 bucks. Oxygen is still king DD on that FR, Iām afraid.
Teas are balanced warm, sub-bass boosted. Delicate treble (kinda cold to some, but tuned this way to have perfection without sharpness), brilliant mids. Thereās a good reason they are praised, and why they are S tier on HBB rankings for 300 usd. This gets even more real when you have a library like him, but also for other genres.
Iām getting Mele in 2 days probably, Iāll let you guys know.
I am also a classic rock and prog rock guy, so I tend to like the BGGAR target. Almost everyone will say the obvious Mangird Tea, but they are about $300. I still think for the money, those are well worth it. You will find that your Aria will shock you occasionally
I ordered a pair of his new Mele, which are the Tripowin x HBB Mele. They are only $50, and we donāt know much about them yet, but they are tuned for his tastes. I ordered a pair with the extra 2.5mm jelly cable.
I would put these in my tier below those
In the middle price wise would be the ThieAudio L3 or Legacy 3. These are about $120, and I have listened to a pair of these for a week ( did a mail swap with a friend ), and really enjoyed them, enough that I have considered buying a pair, but I am trying to not ācollectā IEMs.
The Tanchjim Hana at about $180 is another good set and gets used as a comparison point, there are two version the old and new. The newer one is better, and the reviews are pretty clear on that.
Just got the Aria and it sounds amazing. My previous IEMs were Blon BL-03 and I thought they sounded just alright but nothing special. The Arias are a revelation though. Not as good as my HD-6XX paired with my RebelAmp (though thatās a high bar to clear), but crisp and clear in a way those arenāt and the fact that I can get this kind of sound quality while Iām walking around with my phone with nothing but an Apple dongle is game-changing.
One question: Iād love it if these had a microphone so I could answer calls on them. I know MoonDrop sells the MKI cable with a mic, but Iām not clear on whether thatās compatible with the Arias? Anyone know? Anyone have a suggestion on a higher-quality cable I might prefer instead?
I have had too many disappointments with Moondrop cables to recommend them, but any 2pin with a mic should be compatible. Just kinda depends what you want in a cable (besides the mic).
Normally I like Xinhs cables, on Ali. I donāt think they do mic ones though.
Tripowin makes mic cables, I think Yinyoo does as well. Honestly I havenāt really ever wanted a cable with a mic so I havenāt gone searching that much, those are just a couple I remember there being an option for when getting a non mic one.
@Rikudou_Goku has some good cheap(er) cables in the google doc in his profile. You could check if any of those have a mic variant.
That was my impression with the Aria as well. They donāt sound like $80 IEMs.
My solution for the microphone with my IEMs has been the Fiio BTR5. Basically it is a Bluetooth ( or USB ) DAC/Amp, that has a few neat tricks, including a microphone. The amp is nice, it has a 2.5mm balanced output, 3.5mm output, EQ, and is overkill for what you want, but it is amazing.
I use it for work and it lets me connect to both my phone and my work computer at the same time. Due to the Bluetooth, I just put the BTR5 in my pocket and I can get up and walk around, get coffee, etc. I can take calls, and it will even pause my music on the PC when I do.
I have heard people say the app for Fiio Control is horrible on iPhone, but on Android it ran great, and you really only use it to do setup things, or mess with the EQ.
How does the Aria compare to the Thieaudio Legacy 2? Iāve heard some good things about the L2 and some bad thingsā¦ same for the Aria of course. Maybe someone who has both can briefly tell me about both sound signatures?
I know I complained about the connection being week, but I love the sound Arias connected to the FiiO UTWS3. Really good separation and detail. The physical separation with the true wireless adds to the experience as well. And I donāt have the FiiO app, just use it raw
I want to echo @John_W_Clark 's BTR5 recommendation. Iāve been using it daily while working for over a year and a half. Powers my T50RPs well (as far as I can tell since Iāve never been able to compare to anything better). I love the dual connection feature. I have never downloaded the app so I donāt know if Iām missing out or dodging a bullet, but I donāt think it needs an app. I rarely use the mic but I think it works as well as any other. I rarely pair Aria with the BTR5 so canāt speak to that either.
I use my Arias with my FiiO UTWS3 that also has a built in mic. Iāve been told that it sounds great on the other end. I have an issue, however, that I either yell or whisper since I canāt hear myself well while wearing IEMs, but that is obviously inherent with the IEMs and not the cable/mic solution. The UTWS3 does not support dual connection which I found very annoying at first since Iām used to the BTR5. But that point is now irrelevant as I only used Arias + UTWS3 while working the first couple days I owned them out of excitement. I find IEMs too fatiguing to wear while working.
The TripowinxHBB Mele has better bass for hip-hop, female vocals are slightly better on the Aria with Moondrops tuning, and natural timbre and soundstage are fine on both.
I would go Mele for hip-hop though since the bass is quite a bit better suited for the genre.
I also got mine in July and both cable connectors are wiggly, and it seems like that is a pretty common story. Sadly it didnāt happen until after the 30 days, for the Amazon no questions return goodness.
I really like the sound but they are not built very well, when you put that together with the chipped paint on the Starfield, it gives a picture of the QC. That is sad because the SSP has been my ābeaterā for a while, and take more abuse than any IEM should be expected to.
If the wigglying thing is common, Iād say it is a conception fault rather than a QC problem, to be honest.
But I do agree in the end: theyāre not very well built.
I really like the Aria, buy kept reaching for my CCA C12, because the fit was simply so much better. The Aria would have a very loose fit and it always took some work to get a seal. I tried the spinfits and they were a slight improvement, but the issues persisted. I tried foam tips and they are great, but slightly discomfortable and I canāt just put them out and in if I have to check on stuff in the kitchen or have to go to the toilet.
So while I was playing with my 3D printer I came up with nozzle adapters, which effectively make the nozzle a little bit longer and gives it more girth around the tip (this somehow sounds dirtyā¦)
