There it is! Sarda’s daddy (or maybe uncle) all grown up. Lol
I haven’t, I want to get the chance too though. The reason I haven’t ordered one for myself is that I have seen too many people prefer the infinity over the supreme, so I will wait until they continue to perfect it
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Same family but not super similar lol
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Going to update mine right now and there will be IEMs from my list that are either gone missing, at an another place or broken:
1st: Shure SE215 - My very first IEMs, Sound isolating god but too Dark for my taste of sounds.
2nd: Tin HiFi T2 - My very first IEMs that kicked my SE215’s ass in terms of sounds, still have to this day and still kicking
3rd: KZ ZSN Pro - Owned briefly back then till I gave it to my little brother, too treble murderous for me and now it’s gone aka broken.
4th: KZ ZS10 Pro - V-shaped that I actually love listening to, and yes in some cases it rivals my T2s. Currently having a driver flex issue on the left earpiece, and the left ear filter’s gone.
5th: BLON BL03 - S Tier imo, one of the best ever that actually made me go WTF when I got them for such an affordable budget. Balanced sound signature, fun and warm. I love it! Gun Metal color broke, currently owning the Purple Edition BL03s as a replacement.
6th: Moondrop Starfields - Fucking S Tier as well and I love blue, the improved version of the T2s imo. It’s blue, beautiful and therefore I love it! Sadly the paint job on mine are chipping off already due to long use, still love having them in my ears regardless.
7th: Sony MH755 - Never gave them a chance when I first got them, therefore I regret it now. It’s broken therefore no use due to the driver getting fucking super glued by my dad’s friend who was modding it at that time. I’ll take the L.
8th: KBEAR KS1 - To me this is the BLON BL03 when it is unrefined and tuned to V-shape. You have to burn them in in order to get all of the goodness out from it, bass can be let’s say “not detailed” on some genres and yeah the fucking sounds from these out of the box are not that good for I got treble murdered when I put these in my ear for the first time. But the thing is, I don’t call it the BL03s unrefined for nothing, since once I listen to more songs with these on, the sounds gets better and better each hour passing, it’s like a raw gem being in the process of refinement. Reason that I have this? I got curious!
3 Likes
I’ve found a pair of used Final e4000s for 70 euro, do you think they’re worth it at that price segment?
I cant remember the exact order, but i can give it my best shot.
Tin T2>>KZ ZS10 Pro>>Blon BL03>>IKKO OH10>>Jade EA3>>Final E3000>>iBasso IT00>>Fiio FH3>>JVC HA-FDX1>>Final A3000>>64 Audio Tia Trio
The ones that remain here are the T2, BL03, Final E3000 and A3000, IT00, and the Tia Trio. Admittedly, the Trio is the only one being used these days.
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That’s a solid deal for $70, but I honestly prefer cheaper offerings (BL03). Apparently the Moondrop Aria is an $80 Starfield (not sure about euros though) so that might be worth looking into to. Haven’t tried it though so I can’t tell you for sure.
Edit: Also sorry for the late reply but I hope this helped ahaha
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(The aria costs about 68 euro) No worries, just reading reviews I kind of came to the conclusion the e4000s just aren’t that great of a deal at almost any price anyway as the Blon03 at 21 euro are relatively similar in sound signature, there are better chi-fi offerings technicality-wise at around the 50 euro mark, and the final audio is hard to power (some say); it seems like FA was kind of short sighted with the 140 euro pricing. Guessing they weren’t expecting chi-fi’s rapid advancements in the IEM market, and now refuse to discount the e4000s to 70 euro (even if thats their current market value), having decided that the price tag is justified due to brand name. The only attractive quality would be the bullet shape, but recently I discovered some other options that have the same form factor, and seem to be better under every other aspect.
OK, now I spent a little time fiddling with enough iem, I feel I can report here.
My first iem were a pair of KLIPSCH IMAGE S4 AII I bought 75€, back in 2014. I spent time with them for commute.
I bought BL-03s after seeing so much positive reviews about it. I couldn’t find a good fit with the tips I had or bought untill I get the spinfit CP-100 in small size. Once again, the reviews saved it: if I hadn’t read/view so much about the bl-03, they would have been in the trash already.
I tried Tin T2. Twice. I sent them back twice. each time I heard a bad sibilance that kept me from enjoying anything. And the signature didn’t impress me that much. It could be a seal issue, though: the foam tips are too big for my ears, and I didn’t try the silicon tips that much.
I then took Kbear KS1s, after a review of intoit. I liked them and they became my daily, but I felt there was something more to get from iem world than this. Their bass is good and fun, but there is too much of itfor my taste in the long run.
I recently got SSRs and Arias from Moondrop. I find the SSR meh. No bass at all and a sound that is plain boring and at the edge of beeing shouty. The Arias on the other hand… I still feel things can go further, but I have to admit these iem are engaging and I really enjoy listening to those.
Now I’m at the edge of the iem rabbit hole. Next steps for me are:
- enjoy the current collection
- organize a roll of iems so each of them get the time it deserves. I should choose what case I use with each pair, too
- refine my taste and begin the definition of my target FR
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Only started 2 months ago, but here we go:
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Fiio FH3 (first iem after watching some reviews, zeos got me there - still own)
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Tin T2 (bought it for my gf and was curious about it. Neither of us were a fan, returned)
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Fiio FD5 (kinda impulse buy, loved the bery DD bass. Treble and suction were horrible at start, got better after one week. Treble was still too much, returned it for teas)
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mangird tea (best thing ever for the price. My precious)
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mangird xenns up (incoming - teas on steroids)
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Replaced the trio with a fourte noir a few weeks back. Never expected to go this far in iems but here i am 
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That path seems pretty familiar to me, I am at 4 months, but here is mine -
I started with the KZ ZST, and they weren’t very good, but I didn’t expect much for $20.
Then I did $40 pairs -
Then I tried the Moondrop SSR, but they were too strong in the mids.
The Tin T2 was sounded good, but they made my ears sore.
The Blon-03 wasn’t for me, too heavy on the bass, but my wife liked them.
Bumped up to $50 -
The KZ ZS10 Pro was the first pair that I enjoyed enough to wear all day. I would disconnect from my laptop, and plug them into my phone at the end of the day.
Now I am pondering a pair of Moondrop Aria, so $80 is fast approaching.
I have decided that the headphones I enjoy are a neutral signature, which is what the “reference” audiophile picks tend to be, so at least I can sort of find the consensus picks and usually be pretty happy.
I am hoping IEMs are going to be like headphones. It was a hobby for about 8 months, after about a half dozen pairs, I landed on the Philips SHP9500 as my main, and gave the others to my family. I later added the Koss KPH30i, and the Koss KSC75 as cheap alternatives that I am fine taking on a trip, giving to a grandkid, etc.
I don’t know how it happened: I was surfing on Amazon, and a pair of tin t4 has been brought in my cart, ant then been ordered. 
These are sold and sent by Amazon, so I can test them and send them back.
A pair of final e 1000c have been brought too, but those I’ll keep to try and use these famous final e tips.
3 Likes
Nice to see more newcomers like me!
I didnt ended up getting the Xenns UP. I decided against the tide and went for a total different signature.
I decided to buy something different from my Teas and thats where my Tansio Mirai Land came in. Have got them for a couple of days now, and man, what a trip had been.
For now, my IEM needness to upgrade has settled. Just gonna get GK10 from penon since its making a lot of buzz for 50 dollars. You can check that out! Arias is a good rec. Later you should check blessing 2, according to your preference 
2 Likes
Update as of August 1, 2021 (Yes it’s already August 1 here according to my time zone.)
Newest Additions:
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BLON BL-05S: The perfect sidegrade from the BLON BL-03s in my opinion, and what the BLON BL-05 SHOULD have been! for we can all agree that the BLON BL-05 were a huge let down and a disappointment. (I am sure some of you love the BLON BL-05 and that’s good, more power to you.) Not as bass heavy as the BL-03 but just right enough to be there, decent imaging, great soundstage, good for vocal focused tracks, all-around good in all genres and of course the fit is much comfortable in my opinion. But as usual, replace the stock cable and the tips for they are still shit. BLON please, fix your stock accessories ffs.
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Final Audio E1000: To be honest I just bought this for the E Type Tips since they are that good for the value, but the E1000s are actually pretty good for the price. Sure it does not have an impressive detail retrieval and the soundstage is a bit narrow, but on certain tracks particularly acoustic tracks imo are great to have these in your ears. Fit is not a problem for its design, cable is durable but alas attached, but I cannot be mad for these are not bad.
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Moondrop Aria: Oooooh boy! What do I have to say about this? These are a damn beauty to hold and man it’s just like the first time when I first had my Moondrop Starfields, nothing but love for this. The sounds comparing it to the Starfields is similar but there are some few changes such as the fit is much better, there is a bit of bass added, there is decent treble for I know there are some people that are bit disappointed on the Starfield’s treble (I am not one of them for I think that the treble from it is fine and just right.), lighter in weight and it leans towards to a warmer sound compared to the Starfields which is Neutral. The mids are a bit recessed on this one but to me, it still sounds good since it is after all just like the Starfield soundwise! This year despite it still being shit, is one of best purchase I have made, along with the ifi Zen DAC. Best for its price and value, along with the BLON BL-03.
The Ones That Are Gone/Missing:
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KZ ZS10 Pro: Due to its continuous driver flex issue on the left earpiece, it is safe to say that the driver that produces the bass has broken from the pressure, therefore I consider it as gone. Don’t get me wrong it’s still usable but it’s not the same as before when it didn’t had that issue.
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Shure SE215: Missing, cannot seem to find it nowadays and even my mom who has a sharp eye for finding missing things cannot seem to find it as well. Sucks that it is missing currently, although the sounds to me are not that spectacular but these are a savior from too much noise.
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KBEAR KS1: It’s not broken or missing, I just decided to give it my little brother instead since he is in need of IEMs for the previous IEMs I gave him broke. (Those were cheap QKZ IEMs that has good sounds but not as good as my IEMs.) Not a huge loss since in the long run, I still prefer my BL-03s over those.
1 Like
Well, I’m pretty new to this game, even if I own a Shure 215 and a FiiO X3gen1 since long time… but used them just when it was impossible to use anything else, don’t really like them for whatever reason (don’t even know exactly why…)
Then out of curiosity given the very good feedbacks I was reading almost everywhere and the reasonable price, I bought the Tea, and bam!!.. the IEM honeymoon started 
the progression after the Tea has been quite fast: Thieaudio Oracle (still to be delivered, wasn’t expecting 2 months to have them…) and then UM MEST MKII (bought from the only - as far as I know - EU authorized dealer Audeos.pl, which I recommend for EU fellows), paired with an iBasso DX300. I’m very surprised by the level of these little pieces of technology, quite incredible how they all sound.
My next step (next year) are the EE Odin, seem really my perfect “cup of Tea” (pun intended ), but I also have the Tansio Mirai Spark and the 64 Audio U12t on my radar…
Finally, I must really thank Chris, I’ve followed his recommendations and I’m very happy with that
In Chronological order by purchase date. I still own all of these. I use the Etymotic ER2XR as my work office IEMs and the Kinera Nanna’s and Shure KSE1200 for my at home music listening IEMs. Still dearly love my Shure SE535’s and bust them out every now and then. I do use the surprisingly good HiFiMan RE400 for working out in the yard as I made them into custom IEMs with sound deadening urethane molding compound. They isolate amazingly well cutting out almost all the noise from my riding lawnmower and chainsaw. The isolation also adds to the very good sound quality of these oldies but goodies.
Bose TrueSound Ultra
Bose Sound Sport Ultra
Bose MIE2
Bose IE2
HiFiMan RE400
Shure SE535
QKZ VK4
Etymotic ER2XR
Blon BL-03
Tin Audio P1
ThieAudio Voyager 3
Shuoer Tape
Shure KSE1200
Kinera Nanna
Final Audio A4000
1 Like
Hey all.
I started my iem/earbud trip many years ago with B&O’s A8 which sounded amazing back then with cassette players and minidiscs. 
At some time more than 15 years ago my love for good sounding earphones and my stupid notion that you get what you pay for led me to buy a pair of Sure SE200 series something and after a year a pair of SE525 (?) if I remember correctly, their top of the line back then to use with my iPod 5th gen. I never really enjoyed these combos and I think I fucked up my right ear a bit as well by listening too loud in order to get some good sound quality.
A few years ago after a long break time from portables I got the hyped Xiaomi Hybrid HD’s to use with my iPhones and I still had them until a couple of months ago when I gifted them to a friend. Not bad at all considering the crappy iPhone SQ and the later Huawei P9 lite. They did sound much better with the Xiaomi Mi A1 though.
Now the last couple of years I started taking sound more seriously and I grabbed myself a pair of the famous Sony MH1’s with mmcx mod and a nice TRN cable and a few months later a Fiio BTR5. Man, how much things have changed soundwise since the iPods, minidiscs and mp3’s. Then came a HiFi Tidal subscription and things got even better.
Then I felt like going deeper into the rabbit hole and wanted to try something more exotic so I went and bought the Fiio FH3’s to try. I found them sooo good until they started hurting my outer ear with prolonged use. They also were quite sibilant or shouty or something similar with their treble and balanced tips and I could only stand them with the bass tips on. I rarely use them these days but keep them for when I need them to plug directly to my Pixel 3a cause they are veeery sensitive and play loud even with its lousy amp.
I went back to the MH1 and also got a pair of mmcx modded MH750 from the same Russian guy on eBay to see if there were any differences. There definitely were. The 750 was distinctly more V-shaped and it didn’t feel like my cup of tea.
After a few months of back and forth between them I settled with the MH1 which paired amazing with the BTR5 and a new Deezer HiFi subscription. They just sound amazing with everything I throw at them, so natural, dynamic, with excellent bass and mids and highs, they are comfortable AF and with their laid back highs I can listen to them in relatively high volumes without any inner or outer ear fatigue. Just perfect.
I think they are my endgames so I ordered a second pair and I might get a third as well. I can’t think I would settle for a bigger size iem from now on. These and the Audioquest NightHawk Carbons will probably stay with me for many years to come. But I still like to read other’s thoughts here and at Headfi just for fun…
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Moondrop Starfield
Fiio FH3
Moondrop Quarks
7Hz Timeless
Etymotic ER2SE
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Updated 1/3/2022
Thieaudio Oracle (Sold)
Thieaudio Monarch (Sold)
64 Audio U12T
64 Audio Trio
64 Audio A12T (on order)
Empire Ears Legend X
Hidition Viento-R
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