So a few friends of mine have been asking for IEM recommendations, im a bit out of the loop. My current up to 50$ is the 7Hz Zero 2 (which i have used a lot), but im wondering is there anything that has stacks up or even dethrones it?
I know its also a taste thing but from the ones ive tried the Zero is a jack of all trades
The Zero 2 is terrific, also the Moondrop Chu 2 is another I use for travel. For vocals the Truthear Zero Blue and gaming the red version are worth it. All sound terrific with the Apple adapter for $9.
Tech has gotten so good it’s down to personal preference on tuning in the under $50 bracket.
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Kefine Klean is a terrific set for under $50, and Artti T10 is fantastic planar for $51.
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wow i really am out of the loop didnt know plannars got to that price point, do you need an amp or can a regular dongle handle them?
@pk500 The OG Chu were nice, so glad they ditched the attached wire
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The T10 are not that tough to drive. I drive everything from a desktop amp, but I think a dongle with decent power would do just fine.
Don’t let the cheap look of the T10 fool you. It’s a hell of an IEM. The effort definitely was focused on the driver and the tuning, not the aesthetics!
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unless it’s god-awful ugly or has major comfort/longevity issues, dont bother me too much
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I haven’t been buying budget IEMs lately. I do like the Zero 2 since it has a relaxing overall sound signature and works quite well when watching movies. Perhaps you might want to look at the Reddit r/iems poll results for the top five budget IEMs under 50 dollars:
https://www.reddit.com/r/iems/comments/1hd2g1f/top_5_iems_under_50/
Anyway, just some budget stuff which is pretty popular right now.
I think I don’t have any valuable input about this topic since the only budget sets that I have right now would be the 7Hz Zero 2 which was a Christmas gift from my cousin, the Tangzu Wan’er SG, Truthear Gate and the Kefine Delci AE which may or may not be a budget option to some.
Not only that, I find myself getting IEMs that are not on the budget range as often anymore for l have recently bought the Aful Performer 5+2 and the Pula Anvil 114 which are great options and it’s not even a question that those two sets are able to beat the budget sets with ease, for me at least for there are some that are on the budget realm that have better tuning than the expensive set.
Then again I should not forget where I came from for I started with a budget set back in the day when I was entirely new to the hobby, and my first budget set was the Tin Hifi T2 and the Blon BL03. So I think it would be a good idea for me from time to time to get some budget sets as like my beaters every time I go outside or something.
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Thats what I still find value in as well, Great sounding set to take on Vacation or the Gym and if they get lost or stolen then I cry less!
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Yeah that is true, the only drawback of using more expensive IEMs with better tuning and technicalities is that when those particular sets get lost due to some circumstances or just like me being a dumbass on placing things sometimes, not only it hurts your wallet the most but it also hurts you deep inside like your soul is screaming internally due to me for an example being too careless.
my Heydays are yet to be sold for I am willing to sell them so I can settle with a budget set more like the Truthear Hexa or something, but the Hexas are not that really budget-oriented but not too expensive, so in a way it’s a sweetspot.
Lost one of my AirPods recently, and even though they were old and not even that expensive, it still hurt like I lost a part of my soul 
I can only imagine how much it stings when it’s a high-end IEM!
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at the 50% off price Linsoul is clearing out inventory on amazon (at least on the US site) there are some intereresting sub-$50 options.
$15 Nuo
$35 Kailua
$50 Cinno
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Yeah true, cheap IEMs getting lost can hurt a bit but the expensive side is even worse.
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$20 more could buy you a set of EA500LM, including some tuning nozzles. Correctly (and easily) modded these puppies can trade serious blows with IEMs 3 times and more their prize …
Best bang-for-the-buck in my rotation of more mid-fi single DDs.
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Hard to argue with that kind of performance-per-dollar, especially if it’s trading blows with pricier mid-fi sets in your rotation