What’s your IEM progression?

[elementze]

Very short list. I really need to get out more into the world of IEMs:

• Shure SE215 (first real IEMs, now demoted to workouts)
• Tin T2 (first purchase based on Zeos review)
• Campfire Audio Comet (representing my home town IEM manufacturer… while on a budget)

For when I don’t want kids pulling wires out my ears:

• Jabra Elite Sport (used for 3 years and sold them, they mostly still worked, lots of super glue)
• Sony wf-1000xm3 (returned them after a week, sound quality never overcame inconvenience IMHO)
• Pixel Buds 2 (just a good average for my daily use cases with work and family)

I need help charting a course to my next IEMs. I love my Campfire Audio Comets. What should I try next? Under $300? Even cheep ok, just want to broaden my experience.

[FelixTheReviewer]

In order from first to last:
Dunu Titan 3 - Mid centric. Interesting sound, but not worth imo (better values on list).
Etymotic ER3SE - Nice monitoring set if you need. Fit is rough.
Final Audio E4000 - Decent V-shaped sound. Not worth imo (better values on list).
Oriolus Finschi - Bass is a little too much (also not great) and mids get recessed. Major driver flex issues too (better values on this list).
Tin Hifi T3 - Decent monitoring set, though slightly bright.
Fiio FH3/5 - Easy to recommend imo and great sets. I would suggest the FH3 as it is a lot cheaper.
Tin Hifi T4 - One of the easiest sets to recommend. Only issue for me is vocals can be a bit shouty.
Blon BL03/05 - 03>05. Tuning is better and a little easier for me to listen to. Details are better on the 05 though.
Moondrop Starfield - One of the easiest recommendations. Harman-neutral and fit is awesome for me. Does a lot right.
Urbanfun YBF ISS-014 - Mild V-shaped. Bass is quite nice though. QC issues plague this.
ThieAudio Legacy 3 - Really nice neutral set. Easy to listen with nice bass and has dip switches that don’t do a whole lot imo. Unit variant seems to be an issue
Moondrop Blessing2 - DF-neutral set. Probably the best in terms of soundstage/details in my collection. Bass is a bit light for my liking, but I mainly use these while listening to indie rock, jazz, and vocal/acoustic music. Slightly large for my poor small ears, but somehow fit is decent.
Sony XBA-N3 - Just got, quite similar to the FH5, but tad warmer (?). Seems to be more, but slower bass. Non-fatiguing.

Previously Owned:
Campfire Audio Comet - Too warm for me, but easy to listen to.
Fiio FA7 - Warmer than the Comet for, but easy to listen to.
Shozy From1.1 - Couldn’t get a good fit, but sound is pretty decent, especially for the price.
Shouer Tape - Vocals were in my face. Too fatiguing, but details were nice.
Ikko OH10 - Really nice U-shaped set. Fit is an issue.
JVC HA-FDX1 - Clean neutral set. Couldn’t get a good fit though
Galaxy Buds - Somehow very similar to the Starfield. Not as good, but for a truly wireless earbud, it’s quite good. Sold due not being able to get a good seal.

[sa11297]

@Pr3ssAltF4

Too early to give detailed impressions, but needless to say, they’re the best things I’ve ever heard.

lmao at this response

[omarccx]

Klipsch S4 - awful, cable broke from being caught in my car door

V-Sonic GR06 - I loved these so much. They had something that just pulled you in, especially with R&B. Cable died, used mono for a while, mistakenly threw them away instead of recabling them

V-Sonic GR07 MKII - cable broke, duh, recabled by BTG Audio, kinda tired of the sound, it’s not as magical as the GR06 to my ears

Hifiman RE262 - this purchase proved that I should not trust reviewers. If by liquid mids, they meant horribly nasal and forward midrange with nothing else to show for in the bass and treble, they were right. Pretty decent soundstage, but they sound awful out of most sources.

CCA16 - way too big for my ear, sounded incoherent

Tin T2 - fit is not ideal, I prefer them to the GR07s sound. Tempted to try the T2+.

Hifiman RE400 - meh, 1-4k rise. It sounds like the $30 headphone it’s priced at now. I can’t imagine ever paying $100 for these. Despite it’s lack of technicalities, it does have a nicer sound than the RE600, the midrange peak isn’t as asinine.

Hifiman RE600S V2 - meh times two, better soundstage, imaging and sub bass than the 400, but overall worse tone. Tragic 1-4k rise. Almost identical sounding to the RE262 minus some of the haziness that one has.

Moondrop Starfield - great soundstage and imaging, especially for gaming, fit is so-so, same 1-4k rise all of these IEMs tend to have ruins it for me though, vocals sound unnatural

What I’ve discovered is that I hate nasal and unnatural mids. Can anybody suggest an IEM with a similar graph to the HE500 & ZMF Verite? Ideally something that’s not Andromeda priced, as I am currently saving my pennies to get a pair of customs.

HE500

Verite

[Veritas]

I probably have the unpopular progression, but I am the type that tries very hard to reflect and find the characteristics that I like. After doing so, I save for and baby my gear. I look for companies that put a lot of time and care into their development and passion. I am also not the type to own 10-20 pairs of different IEMs, but rather 2-3 really good pairs that covers the signatures I want.

My first experiences with IEMs were mainly chifi and it honestly turned me off by the whole thing. I ended up just using them for outdoors and travel - BL03, V90, OH1, Shozy 1.1. I just lump them all together, they were okay. Uncomfortable, uninspiring.

Later, I decided to plunge back in with the experiences I have gathered from headphones and speakers and knew which characteristics I liked by then.

My first plunge into higher end IEMs was quite transformative. Again, unpopular vote, but I was more impressed with this than most of my headphone setups.

THE Hyla Sarda.
Then to round it off, 64 Audio tia Trio.

[FiCurious]

Similar story for me…bought a few of the usual suspects early on, such as ZS10-Pro, T2, BL03, and Tapes. Meanwhile, focused more on over ears, getting to essentially a longer term landing spot with them while figuring out the sound I’m looking for. Now I’m also focusing on just a few quality sets, currently including Cayin’s YB04, Jomo Quatre, and NCM Bella V2. Eventually, I may add a QDC Anole VX to round things out.

[DivineCurrent]

I’ve owned a few IEMs over the years, but I was never that crazy about their sound because I was comparing them to full size open backs, an amateur move really now that I look back on it, lol.

But regardless, here is my IEM progression:

Klipsch X10 - First real IEMs I got, I really liked them for the warmth and comfort. But I could not ignore the lack of treble sparkle and what I now understand was the “BA timbre”.

Klipsch X20i - Unsurprisingly, I wanted to go with a familiar brand but more high end. However, I was really disappointed with the X20i, as I could hear audible distortion in the upper mids and they actually sounded worse than the X10 to my ears.

Hifiman RE-400 - This is when I discovered I much prefer dynamic driver IEMs to balanced armature ones. RE-400 was a little shouty around 2 kHz, but they had a much better treble texture and bass quality compared to the Klipsch IEMs. With EQ, these were my go to IEMs for years. I still have them.

Meze 12 Classics - Got these for free on a Head-Fi review tour, I really liked them at the time because of the great bass impact and sparkly treble. But listening to them now, they really don’t sound impressive in comparison to modern IEMs.

Etymotic ER2SE + ER2XR - Got both of them to compare, I preferred the ER2SE for the extra treble sparkle. Really super detailed in the mids and treble, I often use these with EQ to make it warmer.

Sony MH755 - These completely blew me away, and I prefer them to the Etymotics! I can’t believe it costs so little, I got a legit pair for $10 last year. If you had told me they were $100, I would believe you because they sound like that much. Excellent neutral midrange and treble, with extra sub bass kick to make everything engaging.

JVC HA-FDX1 - The hype is real with the FDX1, and they are probably my endgame IEM. I often compare them to full size open back headphones, and I prefer the FDX1 to some of them which is ridiculous. They have incredible bass dynamics and texture that reminds me of the Focal Elex, they have better treble resolution than anything portable I’ve heard. Only complaint is an emphasis at 4kHz which can add some harshness. But with some EQ and the blue middle damping filter, I have trouble going back to any of the other IEMs I own.

[K4sh1ma]

These are my current IEMs and in terms of progression, I think I am doing alright so far. The only IEMs that I have that is not shown here would be the SHURE SE215s and the KZ ZSN Pro, because for my SE215, I don’t have a replacement cable for it and its currently in the use of my dad who I let using it. While my ZSN Pro is now broken after giving it as to my little brother for use. These are my IEMs:

1st: Tin Audio T2
2nd: KZ ZS10 Pro
3rd: BLON BL03
4th: Sony MH755
5th: Moondrop Starfield

[Krucoz]

Hello here is mine
Tin T2
Moondrop Starfield
Tin T4

Just bought a tempotech sonata HD pro USB DAC for my samsung Galaxy S8. Especialy the Tin T2 and aslo the T4 and Starfield sounds much more good! The sound became stronger, fuller, wider, deeper, more accurate. For 32€ on aliexpress it gives me a big overhall improvment.

[Bmn1251]

Owned:
Starfields
Oh10
Mangird Teas
Fh3
Lz A6

Listened via loan: @sa11297
Orions
Zeus
Cupids
It03
Sarda(coming today)

Favorites: Teas,A6

Liked, but wouldn’t keep: Starfields,Oh10,it03,fh3,orions

Meh?Zeus

Did not like:Cupids

[Veritas]

@Bmn1251

Sarda(coming today)

Looking forward to hearing what you think about them.

[Ohmboy]

Fast and furious but started slowly but seriously with a pair of Shure SE530’s in 2010 then about a year or so ago an onslaught of low/mid end purchases…P1 still own still love, Blon 03 given away to my step daughter, FH7, Reecho & peacock Spring 1 dope set, Final E4000 wide soundstage, iBasso IT00 another all-round good’un, Andro OG for ever a keeper, CF Vega my dirty bass fun set…Z1R’s are now my everyday set and I can’t see a reason to progress…I’ll see where the bone conductor/MEST goes to and explore other sources, but right now I’m truly happy just listening to music

[doctorjuggles]

I heard the MEST for a short while, it’s very good, if you get a chance to audition it, you should definitely give it a whirl!

[hit_the_right_note]

@Ohmboy

I’m truly happy just listening to music

Oh Yeah;

with a good pair of earphones … just fun!

[sa11297]

@sa11297

tin t2
blon 03, kz zs10 pro, shuoer tape (got at the same time)

got my eyes on the ikko oh10…

tin t2
blon 03, kz zs10 pro, shuoer tape (got at the same time)
starfield, oh10 (same time)
obravo cupid (still haven’t heard though)
meze rai solo
empire ears bravado
hyla sarda

[l0rdm0rd]

first possibly were the earphones that came with my Gameboy
In the mid 2000s i bought some Panasonics which were great
Mid 2010s i bought some red ones which have bass, don’t remember the brand
Since i’m watching Z reviews:
Tin T2
Monoprice Monolith M300
BLON B03
Some Kzs
Theiaudio Legacy 3
Moondrop Starfield

I very much prefer the Legacy 3s currently.

[Mufflertape]

Your could try the EX800st, they actually have a dip at 4k before their treble emphasis, some say it can be peaky in treble, but ive not had any issues since its post my sensitive region. Really solid!!!

[hit_the_right_note]

[quote=“Ohmboy, post:52, topic:10520”]
Fast and furious but started slowly
[/quote

ohhh, I know what you’re talking about;

It all started with this:

And this is what my current state looks like:

[jmwant]

I love my mh755s

[FiCurious]

@FiCurious

I’m also focusing on just a few quality sets, currently including Cayin’s YB04, Jomo Quatre, and NCM Bella V2

Ended up trading for a set of JH Roxannes last week, and got them yesterday. Different from my others, for sure. Seem very tip picky, and perhaps source/recording picky as well, but I think I’m getting close to finding the right tip and bass attenuation combo. Started out sounding a bit honky with unnatural timbre in the upper bass/lower mids. Piano in particular just sounded wrong. Had to dial back the bass a bit on the cable attenuator and find some tips with a wider bore, which has helped a lot.