What do you think of the Apex?
I emailed him a while back about it but never heard back.
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I really enjoy sets with little pinna gain. Throw on some short bore tips and let the ear gain do it’s magic. Makes for a set that can be cranked without getting sibilant or fatiguing. Now it’s not a set that’s going to dethrone anything but it’s a labor of love that has unique tuning and comes with some pizazz at its price point and sets it apart. There’s also some very minor similarities in it’s tuning to Glam which is a killer set. So if you really like Glam chances are you’ll like Aphex as a cheaper and less technical set that still has its own style to portray the music.
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Pretty cool comparison with Glam 
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I didn’t hear much about the Aphex, but I’m genuinely surprised to discover how similar the graphs of these two sets look.
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Well, it‘s been a long time since I‘ve been active here. Pretty much lurking, and no new IEM in almost two years.
…but that changed today.
Incredibly excited for these.
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I guess buying a kilobuck iem every 2 years is still cheaper than frequently buying low/mid tier stuff. Just gotta treat it like a smartphone purchase.
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By this logic, we should buy an IEM once for $3000-4000 and never buy an IEM again. That will work out the cheapest, I guess 
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It is true.
1 one time 3000-4000 usd
vs
3-4 1000 usd iems over 6-8 years (2 year interval)
You be saving a TON more money IF you can keep to that ONE time rule.
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Well, the reason I went so long without a new one was because my Oracle and Variations just didn’t warrant it. These two cover pretty much anything I throw at them.
But with the MkIII being out now, I thought it might be the time to pursue the next level and get me my first Kilobuck.
I already eyed the MkII back when it came out, but decided against it in the end.
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GL with holding back the urge to buy another kilobuck iem. 
Seen way too many people say that “this is my first and last kilobuck” only for them to keep buying iems in that range later.
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Aye after buying your first $1K set…
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When I got into this hobby, I had recently started working from home, so I viewed the audio gear budget as part of my office supplies, and set it to half of what I had spent on gas when I was still driving.
I still have only cracked the $200 mark three times ( 7Hz Timeless, Mangrid Tea, Mangird Tea mk2 ). The Tea and Tea still represent my two favorite IEMs, so I am pretty happy with those purchases. Tea 2 was the most recent of those, and that was November of last year ( the Hype 2 is first set is that range I have even seriously thought about ).
I almost checked out after the Phillips SHP9500, but when I picked up the KZ ZS10 Pro and the BTR5, this became a hobby for me. Which gets me to two points.
- The BTR5 is still the best audio purchase I have made. It is plenty of power for everything I own, and was only $110 back then, plus it still gets used regularly, despite owning a few dongle DACs and a desktop amp ( I could have skipped them all ).
- IEM collecting is much cheaper than mechanical watches. I have only bought one watch since I picked up the OG Mangird Tea.
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Welcome back @mmkzero, glad to see you.
I heard the Monarch Mk3 (and some other Thieaudios) a couple weeks ago. I do think it is a step in the right direction to fix some of Mk2’s quirks, like the treble roll-off, and beacause of that I’m pretty sure most people will prefer it over its predecessor.
To me, it’s a bittersweet ride. Despite being an improvement, the Mk3 lost some of its charm in the mid-range, and what made me love the Mk2 in the first place. I’ve been actually putting my thoughts into words about all the stuff that I’ve tried and I’ll post it later.
Anyway, enough drifting off, congratz and I think it’s a good purchase. Hope you enjoy the heck out of it 
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Except even at the kilobuck range, you’re served with a whole new menu with so many different enticing and unique variety of flavors to try. The meal may taste only marginally better, but when the bill arrives it’s a different story lol
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Yes, this is why it is still a gamble to try kilobuck stuff, you either win if you are satisfied or lose if you only keep buying, except it is now in the kilobuck range.
Though I will say, if it’s any consolation for those considering whether venturing into this space is “worth it,” the savings are also significantly higher (given the higher costs) for second-hand goods in the kilobuck market.
Many of them (especially the flagships) typically tend to lose as much as 30-50% of their initial value in a relatively short amount of time. For instance, the EE Odin can be found for under $2k (which is hilarious when you factor in the cable valued at $1.3k itself); the Aroma Jewel for well under $3k; the Anole VX under $1.5k; the Trailli for $3k, etc.
And in many (not most) instances, you are not foregoing warranty through either requesting some form of proof of purchase prior to sale when dealing with an individual or maintaining a good relationship when dealing with a merchant. There are of course exceptions, especially when taking ones locality into account.
My near 2 decades of experience in this hobby has been ultimately no different than in the PC building hobby: one can manage to save (tens of) thousands of dollars by:
- Not being an early adopter (except in the case of VERY limited runs, but even then its debatable).
- Waiting for the hype/excitement/motions to settle when a product is first launched.
- Keeping up with the “best of” from just one to two years ago, as most of it will be heavily discounted in the second-hand market and will not compromise on sound by much (if at all).
On that last note, I am in the process of cleaning up and renovating an entire floor of our house and discovered IEMs from 2010 that, to this day, sound so enjoyable and were oh so ahead of their time! I always remind myself: just because it’s old, doesnt mean it aint gold.
Sorry for the wordy post. Just love this community and hope you all have yourselves a blissful Labor Day!
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Press F to the people who bought a Traiilii new when it was the hot shit in the block around 2 years ago only to sell it for 3-4k.
IEMs that retain value are usually either: Limited runs or IEMs you can only purchase in 1 store (IE: Dusk @ Shenzhenaudio, Maestro Mini @ FATFreq’s store.)
Everything else usually drops in price quite fast in the secondary market, especially if it’s a set no one really cared about like the Softears Volume or any FiiO IEM not named FH5.
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Does anyone know what IEM is a direct upgrade to the Tea 2? I’d love to have the Tea 2 sound signature but with better drivers.
Budget: Sub $2000 USD.
I’ll be doing some heavy gear upgrades when 11.11 in around 6 weeks from now. In the meanwhile, I’ve been doing way too much research on potential IEM buy candidates, spoiled for choice af!
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Different driver config, but Supernova seems like a good way to go if you can do with a little more up top:
@VIVIDICI_111 's upgrade chart has the EJ07 OG as an upgrade for the staging/presentation, but also for the Tea OG for the general tuning: Jay Audio IEM UPGRADE GUIDE (2023) - Google Sheets (row 65, also with the caveat that this is with the EJ07 OG listened to at cranked volume levels).
I never had the Tea mkII, so hopefully others can weigh in.
EDIT: EJ07M or Kinda Lava look like they may fit the bill as well:
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