OG Airpods are still a bud though. And I think there are still tons of them out in the wild.
The Airpods share the same structure as those wired Earpods?
The pro version is an IEM though.
I actually forgot these exist…
There aint so many Apple-worshippers in Central-to-East Europe tbh.
Also…
I suppose its nearly impossible to measure (graph) earbuds, is it?
There are graphs on them…but I cant read them lol. And they probably are even less accurate than iem graphs since having a different fit will change the sound quite a lot…
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I feel like there can be too much focus on how (and to what) earbuds compete, especially in regards to price. Earbuds are the price/performance kings, but they have inherent pros and cons (open sound but poor isolation and lowest-octave performance, non-adjustable fit) that prevent them from truly being 1:1 with any IEM, headphone or speaker IMO. You’re better off comparing a specific bud against a specific IEM, and even then, buds can be much more dependent on an individual’s ear shape because you can’t tip/pad roll really; there’s little foam and silicone covers, but they do almost nothing to change the sound and not much for fit or comfort, either. If an MX500 shell doesn’t fit your ear, you can’t change that.
yeah, its an apple to oranges comparison that doesnt make that much sense to me.
Although I disagree about foams/silicone covers not changing much of the sound, I do think they affect the sound quite a lot. More than tips do for iems.
I should have specified “in my experience” lol, but I’ve never heard of the little covers making a night-and-day difference. I’ve also got to scoop those X6’s at some point; too cheap to refuse and having a solid pair of beaters never hurts! The KBear Stellar is my current go-to pair, they’re almost like a mini-PortaPro to my ears.
Yeah, get those X6. They are epic.
So I’m in a very interesting situation right now. Previously I asked here for what iems I should get at the 300 USD price range and I have some nice recommendations. After I posted my impressions of the Starfield and the FH3 in the other thread, I was told by my local audio shop that my Starfield was ready to collect. (My starfield had a driver problem on the left side and I sent it to the audio shop.)
I got my starfield back and not come to 12 hours, the left side just simply died again, and it’s a brand set of starfield. My previous left side had a chip and the one after getting it was a brand new one. I went back to the shop and just decided to have an exchange into another iem. I was then given a list of iems that’s available for exchange after price deduction and it’s within my budget range.
- B2
- FD5
- Tin HiFi P2 (My Sony A55 definitely can’t drive this iem. Planar. =/)
- iBasso AM05
- Thieaudio Legacy 5
- Meze Audio Rai Solo
- BGVP DM7
This has been honestly somewhat a fortunate accident and now I have to research all these. My gut instinct at the moment is to just get the FD5 since it suits my music taste more (K-pop). I have a week or two to finalize my decision so I thought I share this strange situation of mine to you guys! I’m currently gonna research these iems in the list above but I’ll be glad to read your input here.
Forget the B2, P2. And probably skip the DM7, AM05 and the Rai solo as well.
FD5 from that list is the only one I have heard and that has a good reputation. But since it does seem like some people cant handle the treble on that one, I say you might want to demo it (since it looks like the store got it, so you might be able to try it first).
Family pictures:
Audiosense:
From left to right: DT100, T800, DT200
Sony:
Top left to right: MH750, XBA-A2, MDR-EX800ST
Bottom left to right: XBA-Z5, XBA-N3, MDR-EX1000
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From personal experience best to avoid the Solo unless your ears are not sensitive to peaks. The 4k peak is cancer… 
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Yeah, I was actually demo-ing the FD5 a lil bit when I went to collect the starfield but it was not with my own source, so I’ll be heading back there early next week to have an extended demo with my own source and music library.
First impressions was pretty good so I’m feeling optimistic about it.
After getting the Tin Hifi T3, I tend to get annoyed by the peak but the T3 is well known for the treble peak and sibilance.
Sounds like I’ll have to avoid that haha.
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Sounds good then. Best thing is to trust your own ears if you can actually demo stuff (a privilege I dont have…).
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Yeah. There were a few people demo-ing some stuff when I went to collect the starfield. I saw someone demo-ing the UM MEST and some 64audio iem. With the pandemic, it’s mostly booking an appointment to avoid the crowd at the moment. More time for me to demo stuff!
I hope you’ll get to experience it one day. It’s cool to know the local audio community here from where I’m at.
